Lennie Tristano Quintet - Live At Birdland 1949

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:37
Size: 88.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1979/2000
Art: Front

[7:40] 1. Remember
[5:44] 2. Pennies
[4:06] 3. Foolish Things
[5:42] 4. Indiana
[4:19] 5. I'm No Good Without You
[2:56] 6. Glad Am I
[2:42] 7. This Is Called Love
[2:43] 8. Blame Me
[2:41] 9. I Found My Baby

The name Lennie Tristano was conspicuously absent from Ken Burns' monolithic jazz documentary. That's no small omission; Tristano's group, which included the saxophonists Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz (also ignored by Burns) was the first to record what later came to be known as free jazz -- music improvised without pre-ordained melodies, harmonies, or meter. Needless to say, that wasn't mentioned by Burns, either. Tristano did it in 1949, the year this record was recorded, with what is essentially the same band (Konitz is absent here, though he was a regular member of Tristano's group at the time). This record gives no direct evidence of the band's free jazz experiments although Tristano is given composer's credit on all cuts, the disc is comprised mostly of standard harmonic frameworks played without reference to theme. However, it does reflect the band's prevailing emphasis on unfettered linear improvisation. The quintet tracks here were recorded by the group's bassist, Arnold Fishkin, during performances at the old Birdland in New York. The solo piano cuts were recorded in Chicago, four years earlier. The sound's rough, but not unlistenable, especially given the historical implication of the music. Listening to this is like being a fly on the wall of the world's most famous jazz club, witnessing history in the making. It really can't be said that Tristano's piano style was cut from whole cloth there's too much of a Bud Powell influence but there have been few musicians on any instrument who played with more spontaneous melodic invention. Two others who did were Marsh and guitarist Billy Bauer, also present here; this band placed great importance of creating "in the moment," and listening to this music made over 50 years ago reminds listeners of the value in such an approach. Little jazz being made at the turn of the millennium rivals this set in terms of raw creativity. Popular misconceptions aside, this is an important document. ~Chris Kelsey

Live At Birdland 1949

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Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh - Intuition

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:30
Size: 172.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Avant Garde jazz
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[3:34] 1. Smog Eyes
[5:13] 2. Ear Conditioning
[4:30] 3. Lover Man
[4:16] 4. Quintessence
[4:32] 5. Jazz Of Two Cities
[4:20] 6. Dixie's Dilemma
[3:58] 7. Tschaikovsky's Opus #42, Third Movement
[5:01] 8. I Never Knew
[5:14] 9. Ear Conditioning
[4:28] 10. Lover Man
[4:38] 11. Jazz Of Two Cities
[5:08] 12. I Never Knew
[3:19] 13. Wow
[2:48] 14. Crosscurrent
[2:48] 15. Yesterdays
[3:03] 16. Marionette
[2:59] 17. Sax Of A Kind
[2:27] 18. Intuition
[3:05] 19. Digression

Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz (tracks: 13 to 19);Bass – Arnold Fishkin (tracks: 13 to 19), Ben Tucker (tracks: 1 to 12); Drums – Denzil Best (tracks: 16 to 19), Harold Granowsky (tracks: 13, 14), Jeff Morton (tracks: 1 to 12); Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 13 to 19); Piano – Lennie Tristano (tracks: 13 to 19), Ronnie Ball (tracks: 1 to 12); Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh. Lennie Tristano's historic 1949 Capitol sessions with Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh & Marsh's 1956 classic Jazz Of Two Cities.

This CD brings back a formerly rare set by Warne Marsh, plus seven classic performances that serve as the high point of Lennie Tristano's career. Oddly enough, the Tristano date is programmed second. First is a full-length album which matches Warne Marsh with the cooler but complementary tone of fellow tenor Ted Brown (plus pianist Ronnie Ball, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Jeff Morton). The original eight selections are joined by four alternate takes recorded in mono. Marsh and Brown blend together well, Ball has several creative solos, and most of the "originals" are based closely on familiar standards. However, the main reason to acquire this CD is for the seven remarkable Tristano tracks which feature his finest group (consisting of the pianist/leader, altoist Lee Konitz, Marsh on tenor, guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Arnold Fishkin, and either Harold Granowsky or Denzil Best on drums). Tristano's music was unique and even more advanced than most bop of the late '40s. While he confined the rhythm section to very quiet timekeeping, the vibrato-less horns and Tristano himself played very long melodic lines, constantly improvising. The stunning unisons performed by Konitz and Marsh (particularly on "Wow") still sound remarkable today, as does the interplay of the two horns on "Sax of a Kind." "Intuition" and "Digression" were the first recorded free improvisations in jazz, but are quite coherent due to the musicians' familiarity with each other. Due to the Lennie Tristano performances, this CD reissue (which has over 75 minutes of music) is essential for all jazz collections. ~Scott Yanow

Intuition mc
Intuition zippy

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Various - Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:19
Size: 156.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz, R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[ 4:36] 1. The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
[ 2:48] 2. Chris Connor - All About Ronnie
[ 7:56] 3. Shorty Rogers - Martians Go Home
[ 6:45] 4. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Evidence
[ 4:41] 5. Lavern Baker - Back Water Blues
[ 5:46] 6. John Coltrane - Cousin Mary
[ 3:32] 7. Jimmy Giuffre - The Train And The River
[ 7:16] 8. Big Joe Turner - Wee Baby Blues
[10:33] 9. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
[ 5:21] 10. David Newman - Fathead
[ 5:21] 11. Lennie Tristano - You Go To My Head
[ 3:39] 12. Ray Charles - Come Rain Or Come Shine

Although there were plenty of early-'50s examples of Atlantic's commitment to jazz, the Ertegun brothers allegedly didn't get serious about establishing a full jazz line until 1955 when the twelve-inch LP was starting to take hold. Hence the half-decade span of this Rhino sampler that helped launch its repackaging of the Atlantic jazz caatalogue in 1993. In the space of one disc, Rhino touches upon most of the leading Atlantic jazz folk of the time, beginning with Shorty Rogers' inimitable "Martians Go Home" and running through to Chris Connor's live "All About Ronnie." Along the way, we hear samples of the MJQ (though there is no solo Milt Jackson), Art Blakey, LaVern Baker, John Coltrane ("Cousin Mary"), Jimmy Giuffre, Joe Turner, Charles Mingus, David "Fathead" Newman, Lennie Tristano, and some string-laden Ray Charles ("Come Rain Or Come Shine"). If quibble we must, there is nothing of the Dixieland resurgence that Atlantic was cultivating then, and most glaring of all, there is no Ornette Coleman, whose first two groundbreaking Atlantic albums were made in 1959. Otherwise casual jazz shoppers will find much to stimulate their appetites in this collection, better described as "best of the late-'50s." ~Richard S. Ginnell

Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

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Lennie Tristano - Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:28
Size: 175.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1994/2005
Art: Front

[ 3:30] 1. Line Up
[ 4:47] 2. Requiem
[ 3:28] 3. Turkish Mambo
[ 4:30] 4. East Thirty-Second
[ 5:42] 5. These Foolish Things
[ 5:21] 6. You Go To My Head
[ 6:25] 7. If I Had You
[ 6:02] 8. I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You
[ 6:10] 9. All The Things You Are
[ 4:30] 10. Becoming
[ 3:25] 11. You Don't Know What Love Is
[ 4:47] 12. Deliberation
[11:38] 13. Scene And Variations Carol Tania Bud
[ 2:17] 14. Lovelines
[ 3:49] 15. G Minor Complex

This anthology combines two major Lennie Tristano albums, Lennie Tristano and The New Tristano; the first nine cuts were done in 1955 and include two trio and two solo numbers, plus five quartet pieces. The quartet tunes include alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and drummer Art Taylor. Tristano's piano solos are more challenging and ambitious on the disc's other six numbers, however; these are unaccompanied solo works recorded between 1960 and 1962, all except "You Don't Know What Love Is" Tristano originals. The variety and sheer amount of ideas, plus the facility of the lines and the overall performances, are impressive. Only the absence of the cut "C Minor Complex" (explained by time restrictions) mars things slightly, but this is a superb presentation of Lennie Tristano's work. ~Ron Wynn

Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano   

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Lennie Tristano - Live In New York

Styles: Jazz
Label: Jazz Door
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:48
Size: 114,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Wow
(2:50)  2. Crosscurrent
(2:47)  3. Yesterdays
(3:06)  4. Marionette
(3:01)  5. Sax Of A Kind
(2:29)  6. Intuition
(3:04)  7. Digression
(3:01)  8. Glad Am I
(2:44)  9. This Is Called Love
(2:45) 10. Blame Me
(2:42) 11. I Found My Baby
(7:43) 12. Remember
(5:44) 13. Indiana
(4:23) 14. I'm No Good Without You

The history of jazz is written as a recounting of the lives of its most famous (and presumably, most influential) artists. Reality is not so simple, however. Certainly the most important of the music's innovators are those whose names are known by all  Armstrong, Parker, Young, Coltrane. Unfortunately, the jazz critic's tendency to inflate the major figures' status often comes at the expense of other musicians' reputations men and women who have made significant, even essential, contributions of their own, who are, for whatever reason, overlooked in the mad rush to canonize a select few. Lennie Tristano is one of those who have not yet received their critical due. In the mid-'40s, the Chicago-born pianist arrived on the scene with a concept that genuinely expanded the prevailing bop aesthetic. Tristano brought to the music of Charlie Parker and Bud Powell a harmonic language that adapted the practices of contemporary classical music; his use of polytonal effects in tunes like "Out on a Limb" was almost Stravinsky-esque, and his extensive use of counterpoint was (whether or not he was conscious of it at the time) in keeping with the trends being set in mid-century art music. Until relatively recently, it had seldom been acknowledged that Tristano had been the first to perform and record a type of music that came to be called "free jazz." In 1949 almost a decade before the making of Ornette Coleman's first records Tristano's group (which included Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, and Billy Bauer) cut the first recorded example of freely improvised music in the history of jazz. The two cuts, "Intuition" and "Digression," were created spontaneously, without any pre-ordained reference to time, tonality, or melody. The resultant work was an outgrowth of Tristano's preoccupation with feeling and spontaneity in the creation of music. It influenced, among others, Charles Mingus, whose earliest records sound eerily similar to those of Tristano in terms of style and compositional technique. Mingus came by the influence honestly; he studied with the pianist for a period in the early '50s, as did many other well-known jazz musicians, such as Sal Mosca, Phil Woods, and the aforementioned Konitz and Marsh....More Bio https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/lennie-tristano/id47528618#fullText

Live In New York

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