*** LEE KONITZ – SUBCONCIOUS-LEE ***
Recorded during the prime of bebop, between 1949 and 1950, Lee Konitz Subconscious-Lee seems practically at odds with itself. It lacks the peculiarity and the exuberance that pours from the recordings of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and other post-swing experimentalists. It simultaneously seems old-fashioned and futuristic.
Lee Konitz, who developed under the tutelage of pianist and pedagogue Lennie Tristano, was perhaps equally influenced by the technical fireworks of bebop, and Tristanos firm mindset. Tristano held that the rhythm section occupied a secondary role, and that improvisation should avoid overt sentimentality. Instead, Tristano and his students valued complexity and precision of harmony and rhythm.
Their pursuit of pure musical devices, unaccompanied by emotional expression, is clearly evident on Subconscious-Lee, on which a sense of cool and detached concentration encircles the performances. The combination of impressive and inventive playing with a generally uncaring approach can be likened to the grunge rock movement of the late 1990s, when bands like Nirvana appeared to have no interest in winning over an audience, and all the while delivered powerful and deeply moving music. In other words, Konitz, Tristano, and frequent collaborator Warne Marsh, sound too cool for school.
Tristano believed that a rhythm sections role was simply to provide the structure over which the improvisers could drape their melodies. He counseled drummers and bassists not to interact with soloists, and not to take the lead in musical events, such as swells in intensity. For this reason, much of this album, like others by Tristano, Marsh, and Konitz, sounds similar to antiquated practices of the hot jazz era, when the only instrumentalists given license to elaborate were the trumpeter and clarinetist.
On the other hand, the rhythmic activity that Konitz and Marsh use to create winding and unpredictable lines sound as if they fit better into jazz from the 21st century. In fact, the contemporary jazz practice of disguising formal structure and steering clear of well-worn harmonic paths may have been in part influenced by this very school of improvisation.
Get It? Get It?
*1) PROGRESSION
2) TAUTOLOGY
3) RETROSPECTION (Lennie Tristano)
4) SUBCONCIOUS-LEE
5) JUDY (Lennie Tristano)
6) MARSHMALLOW (Wayne Marsh)
7) FISHIN’ AROUND (Wayne Marsh)
8) TAUTOLOGY
9) SOUND-LEE
10) REBECCA
11) YOU GO TO MY HEAD (Coots-Gillespie)
12) ICE CREAM KONITZ
13) PALO ALTO
*Bonus Track
All selections composed by Lee Konitz and
Published by William H. Bauer, Inc.
(ASCAP), except as indicated
LEE KONITZ – alto sax
with…
On selections #1-5:
LENNIE TRISTANO – piano
BILLY BAUER – guitar
ARNOLD FISHKIN – bass
SHELLY MANNE – drums (except #5)
#6-9:
WAYNE MARSH – tenor sax
SAL MOSCA – piano
ARNOLD FISHKIN – bass
DENZIL BEST – drums (6-7)
JEFF MORTON – drums (8-9)
#10:
BILLY BAUER – guitar
on #11, add:
ARNOLD FISHKIN – bass
JEFF MORTON – drums
on #12-13, add:
SAL MOSCA – piano
Supervision??? by BOB WEINSTOCK
Selections #1-5 recorded Jan 11,1949;
#6-7 June 28, 1949; #8-9 Sept. 27, 1949
and #10-13 April 17, 1950. All selections
recorded in New York.
Digital remastering, 1991 – Phil De Lancie
(Fantasy Studios Berkely)
1992 Prestige
rip: WMA(lossless)
Hmmm… this is a fine little album through and through.
Notice the seamless transitions from piano to guitar to sax to all threeeeeeee etc.
I feel like these guys are all playing in a vast dark space located somewhere in between the farthest reaches and deepest crevices of my mind… DUDE!!!
Well not really, but I like it all the more for that.
If this album were a drink it might be 7 cups of coffe or its equivalent in espresso.
Keep in mind, seven cups of coffee isn’t much for me.
I guess I can’t pin it down.
Let me know what you think.
-LolaMontes
Coming Soon… (the sooner the better) several months (and a lifetime) in the making:
*** Artie Shaw – The Lola Montes Collection *** (look for it on Demonoid) and seed!!!
It’s much better than this. (If I can just figure out how to finish these damn booklets)