Lee Konitz

中音萨克斯手Lee Konitz（生于1927年）的旋律风格近似Tristano，其器乐演奏技巧也如Tristano一般高超。 Lee Konitz的音色有别于其前辈乐手Benny Carter或Johnny Hodges的华丽光鲜，亦不同于其同辈Charlie Parker的悲喜交织，更多让人忆起Lester Young的冲淡、轻盈、颤音悠缓的演奏风格。 　　有一点不得不提，在那个年轻中音萨克司手几乎人人都在模仿Charlie Parker的音色以至节奏旋律观念的年代，Lee Konitz是为数不多坚持继承和发展Tristano开辟的另一现代爵士风格的乐手之一。Charlie Parker的风格对其影响甚微，Lee Konitz的演奏特色源自于Tristano的钢琴风格。换句话说，Tristano与同时期波普钢琴手们的演奏风格迥然不同。首先，他不以波普的方式“摇摆”，波普风格的摇摆多运用“拖拍”的手法，而Tristano倾向于“抢拍”，赶在节奏之前，并且与Parker和Gillespie相比，较少运用切分节奏；其次，Tristano的节奏没有波普那样变化多样；再次，其即兴旋律的构成以“长串长串不间歇的八分音符”为特色，因此，他音乐中的摇摆感比波普听上去更为“紧”（我们可以对照听一下SCCJ收录的Tristano作品“Crosscurrent”以及SCCJ修订版中收录的其作品“Subconscious Lee”）。 　　上世纪五十年代期间，Lee Konitz影响了一批中音萨克司手。尽管他长期生活在纽约，但其影响最大的地域当属加州。西海岸中音萨克司手Bud Shank和Lennie Niehaus兼收并蓄了Konitz和Parker的风格，自成一系；Art Pepper融合了Konitz、次中音萨克司手Zoot Sims、Parker三家所长将西海岸中音萨克司风格发挥到极至。 　　上世纪五十年代中期，尤其是1954年之后，Konitz的演奏风格逐渐开始起变化，而且持续贯穿整个七十年代。他原前如Tristano般饱满紧实的旋律开始松散起来，音色与速度方面的个人特色也消失了；在演奏中经常运用休止，这使得原本就复杂的节奏更为多样；时不时，他的演奏还会有些布鲁斯的味道。 　　除了与Tristano的合作录音，Konitz最出色的演奏可以在1949-1950年Miles Davis的《Birth of the Cool》系列录音、1953年Lee Konitz-Gerry Mulligan-Chet Baker的合作唱片《Konitz Meets Mulligan》以及1947年和Claude Thornhill合作的唱片中找到。
by Scott Yanow
One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like a cousin of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity that has led him to consistently take chances and stretch himself, usually quite successfully. Early on he studied clarinet, switched to alto, and played with Jerry Wald. Konitz gained some attention for his solos with Claude Thornhills Orchestra (1947). He began studying with Lennie Tristano, who had a big influence on his conception and approach to improvising. Konitz was with Miles Daviss Birth of the Cool Nonet during their one gig and their Capitol recordings (1948-1950) and recorded with Lennie Tristanos innovative sextet (1949), including the first two free improvisations ever documented. Konitz blended very well with Warne Marshs tenor (their unisons on Wow are miraculous) and would have several reunions with both Tristano and Marsh through the years, but he was also interested in finding his own way; by the early 50s he started breaking away from the Tristano school. Konitz toured Scandinavia (1951), where his cool sound was influential, and he fit in surprisingly well with Stan Kentons Orchestra (1952-1954), being featured on many charts by Bill Holman and Bill Russo. Konitz was primarily a leader from that point on. He almost retired from music in the early 60s but re-emerged a few years later. His recordings have ranged from cool bop to thoughtful free improvisations, and his Milestone set of Duets (1967) is a classic. In the late 70s Konitz led a notable nonet and in 1992 he won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize. He kept a busy release schedule throughout the 90s and dabbled in the world of classical with 2000s French Impressionist Music from the Turn of the Twentieth Century. The Mark Masters Ensemble joined him for 2004s One Day with Lee. And in 2007 he recorded Portology with the Ohad Talmor Big Band. He has recorded on soprano and tenor but has mostly stuck to his distinctive alto.Konitz has led consistently stimulating sessions for many labels, including Prestige, Dragon, Pacific Jazz, Vogue, Storyville, Atlantic, Verve, Wave, Milestone, MPS, Polydor, Bellaphon, SteepleChase, Sonet, Groove Merchant, Roulette, Progressive, Choice, IAI, Chiaroscuro, Circle, Black Lion, Soul Note, Storyville, Evidence, and Philogy.