Search - Lee Konitz :: Real Lee Konitz

It is to the delight of jazz fans that alto veteran Lee Konitz has remained such a relevant if not crucial player well into his 70s. His playing in the late 1990s is among the most probing of his career: witness Another Shade of Blue and Alone Together, his two collaborations with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden. This reissue takes us back to a Pittsburgh date in February of 1957 and catches Konitz at a different stage of development, one in which he's more concerned with fluent exposition than adventurous searching. And surely, there were few altoists more fluent and articulate than Konitz, who never seems at a loss for the proper notes and is more expressive here than his "cool" label would indicate. Guitarist Billy Bauer's sterling and inventive accompaniment proves to be one of the quintet's strongest assets. Oddly, Konitz chose to edit a number of these cuts in order to weed out some of the lesser moments, thereby killing a bit of the spontaneity and slightly marring an otherwise enjoyable set. --Marc Greilsamer