Unsung Classic from an unsung Era
5
By smith5
Hearing this record changed my life, but let me digress a little. For some odd reason, no one ever told me to check out Lee Konitz. I found Lee all by myself, literally went to a record store and bought a record called "You And Lee", which I don't believe has ever been released on C.D. That record completely blew my mind. It is still my favorite Lee record, because I believe it to be his best playing to date, totally in command of his instument (as always), yet also totally relaxed, almost channelling Lester Young. He does not play a bad note or phrase on that record, it's actually a stunning statement that more and more people will discover in the next 50 years.
Hearing "You And Lee" completely opened up the floodgates. I mean, to hear this totally original artists' concept of Jazz improv - right up there with Bird and Ornette - was pretty shattering for a budding saxophonist. I went on a Lee rampage, I simply had to own every Lee Konitz record, and save for some of the new stuff, I do. My next find after "You And Lee" was this ingenious "I Concentrate On You" record with Red Mitchell. I paid $3 for it. The album is totally spontanious and casual, yet every tune is played with a very serious conviction and sense of urgency and truth. And then there is the repertoir. The tragic dry wit of Cole Porters songs lend themself so well to Konitz. Truly, he understands them, and proceeds to rewrite them. Konitz plays on this session with a full-blooded conviction that is arresting, his tone is relentless, his feel and phrasing more pulsating and intense than his early playing. I have heard all phases of Konitz, old and new, but there is a uniquely apocolyptic and melancholy quality to both his playing and Mitchell's on this session. That sense of urgency from the playing of Konitz and Mitchell almost feels prophetic, as though they both sensed it would be the last time they would play together.
