Aged 82 at the time this live recording was made at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London in 2010, the legendary improvising saxophonist Lee Konitz continues to break new ground with the quartet’s co-leaders, bassist Michael Janisch, pianist Dan Tepfer and drummer Jeff Williams.
Over the decades Konitz has deepened and pushed further his highly original way of improvising. The repertoire on ‘First Meeting’ is ostensibly of well known standards, familiar to the players, but they merely serve as a jumpingoff point for the quartet to head off in any direction. Without rehearsal, plan or preconceived idea of the music’s end result, the whole context is one of
spontaneity and immediacy.
The music on this album is extracted from six hours of music recorded over two nights. Under Konitz’s instruction, anyone could start playing a melody and the rest of the band could join in, or not. As a result, ‘First Meeting’ features some stellar solo intros alongside duo, trio and, of course, full quartet performances.
This first volume also captures the more concise statements that were recorded, where tunes were started and finished. The quartet also explored some freer and more exploratory paths, and these selections will form a subsequent album.
“Spellbinding.” - **** The Guardian
“This is a live recording that captures the essence of improvisational musical dialogue. Half the fun is guessing the response to various musical gambits and where the conversation will lead next.” - **** DownBeat Magazine (Album of the Year list)
“It’s a superb band, one of the finest Konitz has been involved with in recent decades. “ - **** Jazz Journal
“The luxuriously emphatic bass intro to Alone Together is a reminder of Janisch’s musicality and power, and Konitz’s signature song, Subconscious Lee, is a fast-moving and inventive ensemble conversation.” - **** The Guardian
