Search - Lee Konitz :: Lee Konitz Duets

Seeking Variety? Try This !

David Conklin | Albuquerque, NM USA | 06/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This surely must be one of the most unique and varied jazz albums ever recorded. Lee Konitz--a master of improvisation who epitomizes the "West Coast Cool" sound on alto sax --duos with 9 different folks (including Joe Henderson, Jim Hall, Ray Nance, and Elvin Jones) on several different instruments. There's also a quartet piece and a great finale where almost everyone joins in. Styles vary, and while the music leans toward the avant-garde, it should be fairly accessible to most listeners. Presumably everything here was recorded in one 5-hour session to maximize spontaneity and intensity. This was a very impressive achievement by Konitz, and is a lot of fun to boot. I hope this eventually gets a good re-mastering: the OJC series sounds fine as far as first generation CDs go, but a 20 or 24-Bit job by skilled engineers might work wonders on this.

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