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Lee Konitz | |
|---|---|
 Konitz performing in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Leon Konitz (1927-10-13)October 13, 1927 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 15, 2020(2020-04-15) (aged 92) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz,cool jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument | Alto saxophone |
| Years active | 1945–2019 |
| Labels | RCA,Atlantic,Verve,Prestige,Palmetto,Whirlwind |
Leon "Lee"Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an Americanjazzalto saxophonist and composer.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, includingbebop,cool jazz, andavant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz movement of the 1940s and 1950s includes participation inMiles Davis'sBirth of the Cool sessions and his work with pianistLennie Tristano. He was one of relatively few alto saxophonists of this era to retain a distinctive style, whenCharlie Parker exerted a massive influence. Like other students of Tristano, Konitz improvised long, melodic lines with the rhythmic interest coming from odd accents, or odd note groupings suggestive of the imposition of one time signature over another. Other saxophonists were strongly influenced by Konitz, such asPaul Desmond andArt Pepper.
He died during theCOVID-19 pandemic from complications brought on by thedisease.
Konitz was born in 1927 inChicago to Jewish emigrants Abraham Konitz (1897–1964) and Anna Getlin (1900–1973).[1] Konitz had two older brothers, Sol (1919–1997) and Herman (later Herman Kaye; 1921–2005).[2][3]
His father, who was born inBrody,Austria-Hungary (nowUkraine), operated a laundry business in the back of which the family lived. His mother was born in thePinsk District (nowBelarus). Lee went to Hebrew school for a short time and went to synagogue sometimes. The Konitz family was not strict religiously, but observed Jewish holidays and some dietary laws. Lee was ambivalent about traditional Jewish culture and said, "there was something in-groupish about the Jewish people that I saw, that I didn't like–there was always that wordGentile which I hated."[4] Neither of his parents were musical but were supportive of Konitz's interest in music.[3][5]
Aged 11, inspired byBenny Goodman, Konitz received his firstclarinet.[6][7] He received classical training from Lou Honig who also taughtJohnny Griffin andEddie Harris.[5] A year later, his admiration forLester Young led him to drop the instrument in favour of thetenor saxophone. He eventually moved from tenor toalto.[7] He received saxophone training fromSanty Runyon.[5] Konitz's early influences werebig band horn players such asJohnny Hodges,Roy Eldridge,Willie Smith andScoops Carry. He also greatly admiredLouis Armstrong and credited the influenceBenny Carter's solo on"I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me" had on him.[5]
Konitz began his professional career in 1945 with theTeddy Powell band as a replacement forCharlie Ventura. A month later, the band broke up. Between 1945 and 1947, he worked intermittently withJerry Wald. In 1946, he met pianistLennie Tristano, and the two men worked together in a small cocktail bar. His next substantial work was withClaude Thornhill in 1947 withGil Evans arranging andGerry Mulligan as a composer.[8][9]
He participated withMiles Davis in a group that had a brief booking in September 1948 and another the following year, but he also recorded with the band in 1949 and 1950; the tracks were later compiled on the albumBirth of the Cool (Capitol, 1957). In his autobiography, Davis related that some Black musicians resented his hiring of Konitz: "Then a lot of black musicians came down on my case about their not having work, and here I was hiring white guys in my band. So I just told them that if a guy could play as good as Lee Konitz played — that's who they were mad about most, because there were a lot of black alto players around — I would hire him every time [...] I'm hiring a motherfucker to play, not for what color he is."[10]
Konitz stated he considered the group to belong to Mulligan.[citation needed] His debut as leader also came in 1949 with tracks collected on the albumSubconscious-Lee. (Prestige, 1955).[11] He turned down an opportunity to work with Goodman in 1949, a decision he later regretted.[9] Parker lent him support on the day Konitz's child was born in Seattle, Washington, while he was stuck in New York City. The two were good friends, not the rivals some jazz critics made them out to be.[6]
In the early 1950s, Konitz recorded and toured with theStan Kenton Orchestra, but also continued to record as a leader. In 1961, he recordedMotion forVerve, withElvin Jones on drums andSonny Dallas on bass. This spontaneous session consisted entirely of standards. The loose trio format aptly featured Konitz's unorthodox phrasing and chromaticism.
In 1967, Konitz recordedThe Lee Konitz Duets forMilestone, in configurations that were often unusual for the period (saxophone andtrombone, two saxophones). The recordings drew on nearly the entire history of jazz fromLouis Armstrong's "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", with valve trombonistMarshall Brown, to twofree improvisation duos: one with aDuke Ellington associate, violinistRay Nance, and one with guitaristJim Hall.
Konitz contributed to the film score forDesperate Characters (1971). In 1981, he performed at theWoodstock Jazz Festival, which was held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of theCreative Music Studio.
Konitz worked withWarne Marsh,Dave Brubeck,Ornette Coleman,Charles Mingus,Attila Zoller, Gerry Mulligan, and Elvin Jones. He recorded trio dates withBrad Mehldau andCharlie Haden, released byBlue Note, as well asa live album recorded in 2009 atBirdland and released byECM in 2011, with drummerPaul Motian. Konitz became more experimental as he grew older and released a number offree jazz andavant-garde jazz albums, performing with many younger musicians, including saxophonist/composerOhad Talmor with whom he collaborated on 6 albums, featuring mostly new Konitz's music arranged by Talmor for a variety of ensembles. He soloed onElvis Costello's song "Someone Took The Words Away" in 2003, and his album with saxophonist/vocalistGrace Kelly was given 4 1/2 stars by Michael Jackson inDown Beat magazine.[12]
Konitz had heart problems requiring surgery.[13] He was scheduled to appear at Melbourne's Recital Centre in 2011 for theMelbourne International Jazz Festival, but canceled due to illness.
In August 2012, Konitz played to sell-out crowds at theBlue Note club in Greenwich Village, as part of Enfants Terribles, a collaboration withBill Frisell,Gary Peacock, andJoey Baron. Days after his 87th birthday in 2014, he played three nights at Cafe Stritch inSan Jose, California, with the Jeff Denson Trio, improvising on his favoured old standards.[14] In 2018, his duo albumDecade (Verve Records) celebrated both his 90th birthday and ten years of collaboration with pianistDan Tepfer.
Konitz was married three times. His first wife was Ruth Hamalainen. Ruth appears to have been a writer before she married, as she wrote an article withBarry Ulanov about Lennie Tristano that was published in the November 1946 issue ofMetronome.[15] Lee and Ruth had five children: Josh, Paul, Rebecca, Stephanie, and Karen. Karen was the inspiration for his 1956 song "Kary's Trance"; Rebecca inspired the 1950 improvisation "Rebecca", and the 1951 original "Hi, Beck"; "Stephanie" inspired a so called ballad tune from 1958. Lee and Ruth later divorced. His second wife was Tavia Maria Mladinich (1931–1991), who died while they were married. A song named for her appeared on his 1977 albumPyramid. His third wife was Gundula. They divorced also, though they remained close friends.[16] He wrote a ballad for her entitled "Gundula" that he recorded for the first time on the 1999 albumPride. Konitz died atLenox Hill Hospital in New York City on April 15, 2020, as a result ofpneumonia brought on byCOVID-19 during thepandemic in New York City.[1][5]
