Lennie Tristano

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Couldn't find a thread on him in the search.

Seems like he's the jazz pianist that never gets invited to the party - purists find his approach to "white", perhaps? Anyway, I have a CD of Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano. Line-Up, East Thirty-Second, and Turkish Mambo are all amazing, though the rest of the material leaves me cold. I understand that the tape on Line-Up was in some way manipulated, which turns off some jazzbos -- I don't really care though because it's such a smokin' solo.

I dunno, S/D? C/D?

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 06:03 (twenty years ago)

erm, "too" white, rather. My posting grammar and spelling have really declining.

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 06:05 (twenty years ago)

Years ago I read that he was the first guy to do a "free" album (or just one piece?) but I've still never heard anything worthwhile from him. Where to start?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 07:07 (twenty years ago)

though the rest of the material leaves me cold.

geddit because he was a COOL jazz musician, dig!

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 07:10 (twenty years ago)

i have similar feelings about that record - its the only tristano i own. i pull it out every now and then - then i put it away again and go hmmm.

but, yaknow - - > warne marsh, konitz

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 09:05 (twenty years ago)

His stuff is so cool it feels clinically detached, which is why I like it. I believe both he and Bud Powell had problems maintaining their sanity, and the flurries of notes with no emotional connection in their later careers are interesting because to me they reflect that - like those Adolf Wolfli drawings with note after note spiralling around.

His harpsichord-like attack ("32nd St Mambo" esp.) reminds me of a well-known jazz guy who led a five-piece that included harpsichord (can anybody remember the name?). This would have been in the mid-sixties I think, on RCA.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

Harpsichord-like is a good way to describe it. When he plays fast, I really like his touch.

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 15:25 (twenty years ago)

Ah, it was Artie Shaw.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

His stuff is so cool it feels clinically detached, which is why I like it.

This is OTM. He's got this papery flat tone, like Lester Young w/o the loneliness. There's lots of great Tristano playing -- he was an essential element on some Lee Konitz records like Subconsious-Lee. And his band with Warne Marsh and Billy Bauer (totally underrated guitarist!) is really good.

You have to hear Intuition if you're at all interested in free jazz. There are two tracks "Intuition" and "Digression" that are pretty much completely free, a good ten years before Ornette. The rest of it has long spidery solos and flexible rhythms. Very subtle and quiet and 'cool' free playing. It's almost a shame that there weren't more bands/tracks that sound like this b/c it's polar opposite to the wood-warping blare and double-quartet action of the '60s.

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

This might be a good time to ask what OTM means. I've looked around the FAQ, but no joy.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

'On the money' - definitely overused!

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

Thanks mcd. I only have half of the complete Atlantics on Mosaic and Intuition isn't on that, I'll search it out.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:48 (twenty years ago)

I'm not familiar with all of Tristano's stuff, but I like what I've heard a lot. Here's a link to the liner notes to Intuition, a good read:

http://www.ifnet.it/lunati/tristano/intuition.htm

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 19:17 (twenty years ago)

I like them a lot, but it sometimes seems like the Tristanoites cast a larger shadow than their actual recorded output might seem to justify.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

I just realized I combined 'E 32nd St' and 'Turkish Mambo' to get '32nd St Mambo'. I'm sure that would sound great.

Picked up the 1996 repress of Intuition so I'll check that out tonight.

― Brakhage (brakhage), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

One thing I like about Tristano is that he's relatively free of bop cliches - it's sort of cleansing to listen to him after getting really sick of hard bop.

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 03:39 (twenty years ago)

Well, no, that doesn't sound exactly right to me -- I mean his playing is very bebop-oriented, but I guess I just mean that he has a fresh take on bebop.

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 03:40 (twenty years ago)

It's interesting you say that, because I think Lee Konitz is known as an alto player who escapes the long shadow by Charlie Parker.

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 04:02 (twenty years ago)

"cast" by

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 04:03 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...

Lennie Tristano Festival - 96 hours on WKCR!

On now: http://www.wkcr.org/

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 12:55 (nineteen years ago)

This interview is awful. It really is a cult. Have you ever noticed that all the great jazz players of today studied with Lennie?

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:09 (nineteen years ago)

People say Lennie Tristano's music is cold and unfeeling because he was so great and they have to find some way to put him down, blah blah blah. . . He's been supressed. . . "We have had nothing for 20 years" because we ignored Lennie who was the logical next step after the greats of be-bop. . .

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:33 (nineteen years ago)

Isn't this thing at the end now? Is this just the windup valedictory speech or is he going to play anymore music?

― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:55 (nineteen years ago)

any more

― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

No, here it is, the Battle Of The Bands.

― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

It's an (old) interview. There is more music on the way. I turned it off, I can't listen to the interview any more.

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

Old? He just told us the exact time.

― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 11 November 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

And mentioned Veteran's Day.

― The Redd 47 Ronin (Ken L), Saturday, 11 November 2006 14:14 (nineteen years ago)

The interview with Poptkin (sp?) was old. They announced that earlier. Not the show, the interview.

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 14:17 (nineteen years ago)

This just sounds like jazz now. (I should really be banned from jazz threads, despite good intentions.)

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 14:19 (nineteen years ago)

I once saw a small box set of his stuff at Tower for really cheap, but didn't buy it. I probably should have, I do find his studio-oriented experiments interesting. (Speaking of Tower, it's time to go see if things have hit 50% off yet.)

― R_S (RSLaRue), Saturday, 11 November 2006 14:29 (nineteen years ago)

I've been listening to the festival - didn't catch that interview though. I did hear a couple of uninspiring interviews with minor dudes who played with Tristano. The music itself was cool to hear - I really need to get more of his quintet stuff. I love those crazy inverted bebop lines, especially when they're played in harmony by Konitz/Marsh/Bauer (or whoever else)

BTW, can someone explain Line-Up to me?

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Saturday, 11 November 2006 16:00 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

requiem: the complete atlantic recordings is the best purchase i've made in my adult life

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 28 February 2008 10:07 (eighteen years ago)

4am with a beer, nothing sounds better than the title track. who gives a fuck about 'cool' or 'classical pretensions' or whatever. cat could play.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 28 February 2008 10:08 (eighteen years ago)

"cat could play"

haha I love you you corny jazz fuxor

― Hurting 2, Thursday, 28 February 2008 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

now there's a song title waiting to be claimed

― Dingbod Kesterson, Thursday, 28 February 2008 14:23 (eighteen years ago)

eleven years pass...

centennial today. Who know that he was exactly two days younger than Nat ‘King’ Cole?

― Theorbo Goes Wild (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 20 March 2019 01:02 (seven years ago)

I've never connected with Tristano or Konitz.

― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 20 March 2019 02:17 (seven years ago)

For Lennie's 100th, Nate Chinen retweeted his Times piece re the Tristano influence on a younger gen, Iverson etc.:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/arts/music/09tristano.html?smid=tw-share

― dow, Wednesday, 20 March 2019 14:58 (seven years ago)

Also! Kevin Whitehead on today's Fresh Air, re Tristano and Herbie Nichols---audio & transcript here:
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705089927/pianists-born-100-years-ago-prove-theres-no-one-way-to-play-jazz

― dow, Wednesday, 20 March 2019 20:27 (seven years ago)

Thought this was a nice little piece by Dave Liebman that references Tristano while talking mainly on Konitz and in particular his great trio date w/ Elvin Jones and Sonny Dallas, 'Motion', a favourite alb of mine:

http://davidliebman.com/home/ed_articles/motion-comment-on-classic-lee-konitz-recording-with-elvin-jones-from-60s/

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 20 March 2019 20:35 (seven years ago)

Line-up continues to vex me. There are a couple moments where I just can't quite figure out what's going on rhythmically -- I lose the "one" every single time.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 20 March 2019 20:36 (seven years ago)

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