Obituary, Lee Konitz (1927-2020)

It is sad to see COVID-19 claiming another jazz legend, in this case one of the few remaining innovators of of the late-forties ‘Cool School’, saxophonist Lee Konitz, who passed away last week at the age of 92. As one of the great innovators on alto saxophone, Konitz’s elegant, light and breathy style influenced peers like Paul Desmond and Art Pepper, and future generations.

Born in Chicago to immigrant parents in 1927, Konitz first picked up the clarinet aged 11, inspired by the Benny Goodman broadcasts he was tuning into, before moving to tenor and alto sax shortly after. By the age of 15 he was playing in local big bands, and in 1946 he met the blind pianist Lennie Tristano, forming a cocktail-lounge combo. A year later he was working with Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan as part of the Claude Thornhill band, leading to informal apartment sessions with Miles Davis, and ultimately The Birth of Cool sessions of 1949 and 1950. Drawing on a large pool of musicians, the core of the project was Konitz, Davis, Mulligan and tubist Bill Barber, the only musicians to appear on all three of the sessions. Konitz was keen to break free of the all-pervasive influence of fellow alto-player Charlie Parker (who was a close friend) and step aside from the fast pace of bebop. Konitz preferred to play long melodic lines, often creating the free-floating illusion of playing in a different time signature to the rhythm section.

In 1949, with the Lennie Tristano Quartet, Konitz recorded what have been acknowledged as the first free-improvisation sessions, resulting in the pieces Intuition and Digression. Tristano and tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh were like-minded musicians, together developing a more cerebral, chamber-like approach during the fifties. Preferring a less emotive, vibrato-less sound, Konitz had a more objective take on jazz and the group drew criticism from some quarters for being emotionally cold players. These very qualities helped endear Konitz to the burgeoning European free-improvisation scene of the sixties. Supporters included Evan Parker and Derek Bailey, with whom Konitz recorded as early as 1966 in a line-up that included bassist/composer Gavin Bryars and drummer Tony Oxley.

One of his finest recordings, The Lee Konitz Duets from 1967, paired him with a wide range of contrasting players, including Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Karl Berger and Jim Hall. The variety of moods on display, and the high level of invention and passion, undermines criticism that his style was always detached. Active into his eighties, despite ongoing heart problems, in 2012 Konitz played to sell-out crowds at the Blue Note Club in Greenwich Village as part of the leaderless Enfants Terribles quartet with Bill Frisell, Gary Peacock, and Joey Baron.

Aside from performing Konitz was also a widely respected music teacher, and pioneered a pre-internet form of remote tutoring by posting instructional cassettes to students around the world.