The Lee Konitz Duets

Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz was a restless and inquisitive collaborator, always game for a duo encounter right up until his death at age 92. His discography is full of them: duet albums with Dan Tepfer, Matt Wilson, Alan Broadbent, Gil Evans, Martial Solal, and many more. *The Lee Konitz Duets*, recorded in 1967, is unique in that it’s a bunch of different duos recorded on the same day, and somehow a coherent album narrative emerges. Tapping right away into the early jazz of his youth, Konitz opens with Louis Armstrong’s “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” and plays Armstrong’s solo in tight unison with valve trombonist Marshall Brown (with creative overdubbing along the way). Next is a free two-sax reading of the dark ballad “You Don’t Know What Love Is” with the post-Coltrane tenor saxophone icon Joe Henderson. Then comes a 15-minute set of “Variations on ‘Alone Together,’” which pushes the duo concept to its logical limit as Konitz, drummer Elvin Jones, bassist Eddie Gómez, and vibraphonist Karl Berger dip their toes in at various points, two by two at first, but finally coming together in ensemble at the end. Konitz seems to use an octave effect on his horn here, an unexpected sound that reappears on the closing full-band blowout, “Alphanumeric.” The rest is a fascinating cross-section: Pianist Dick Katz, who produced the album, kicks around with Lee on the Katz-penned swinger “Checkerboard,” creating a duo chemistry that Gunther Schuller, in the liner notes, likens to Armstrong and Earl Hines. Guitarist Jim Hall takes his turn with the abstract “Erb,” playing the instrument with such a refined dynamic and timbral control, almost in the zone of extended techniques. Konitz’s Lester Young/Count Basie roots come out on “Tickle Toe,” performed on tenor sax with the relatively obscure, coolly burning West Coast tenorist Richie Kamuca. Then comes a shift as Ray Nance, eminent soloist with Duke Ellington, plays violin alongside Konitz (still on tenor) on the freely improvised “Duplexity,” in a searching post-tonal vein that one associates with Leroy Jenkins and Roscoe Mitchell or other famed avant-gardists.