Lee Konitz (born 1927 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz composer and saxophone player.
Konitz is sometimes regarded as the preeminent cool jazz saxophonist, due to his performing and recording with Claude Thornhill, Lennie Tristano in the mid 1940's (both are often cited as important cool jazz landmarks), and on Miles Davis' epochal Birth of the Cool, which gave the form its name.
Konitz has also been repeatedly noted as one of the few jazz saxophonists of the late 1940's and 1950's who did not seem imitative of the massively influential Charlie Parker.
In the early 1950's, Konitz recorded and toured with the Stan Kenton's orchestra.
In 1967, Konitz recorded The Lee Konitz Duets, a series of duets with various musicians. The duo configurations were often unusual for the period (saxophone and trombone, two saxophones). The recordings drew on very nearly the history of jazz to date, from a Louis Armstrong dixieland number with valve trombonist Marshall Brown to two completely free duos: one with a Duke Ellington associate, violinist Ray Nance, and one with guitarist Jim Hall.
Konitz has been quite prolific, recording dozens of albums as a bandleader. He has also recorded or performed with Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan and others.
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Last updated: 09-01-2005 08:30:53
