NAT "KING" COLE – 1947-1949 | The Chronogical Classics – 1155 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Nat King Cole could charm most listeners by simply singing a few lines from the phone book. His delivery is so intoxicating that even less-than-stellar material doesn't cause so much as a blink of the eye. This is true with Classics' collection of some of his 1947-1949 cuts, where hardly a classic standard or hit is in sight. What one does get, though, is a generous dose of Nat Cole and the trio's slow-riffin' best . While ranging from the ballad perfection of "How Lonely Can You Get" and "Lost April" to svelte blues sides like "My Mother Told Me," Cole, guitarist Irving Ashby, and bassist Johnny Miller show how they perfected the piano trio template forged by the singer's first group with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. The disc also includes two boppish instrumentals: "Leap Here" and "Metronome Riff," featuring Cole with large combos stuffed with likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy DeFranco, Bob Cooper, Art Pepper, Bill Harris, and Shelly Manne. Also included are two takes of "Portrait of Jennie," an early strings affair that nicely foreshadows Cole's symphonic run of hits in the '50s. This disc might not work too well as a prime introduction to the the Nat Cole Trio's '40s material -- check out Capitol's Vocal Classics titles for that -- but it certainly will please fans wanting to delve beyond the more popular tracks. And for those keen on getting a good share of Cole's instrumental and jazz-centric sides, check out Capitol's Instrumental Classics and Jazz Encounters collections. Stephen Cook
Tracklist + Credits :

BOBBY HACKETT – 1948-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1403 (2005) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The third installment in the Classics Bobby Hackett chronology examines the recordings he made between June 22, 1948, and November 7, 1954. The compilation opens with two superb five-minute V-Disc jams introduced by Hackett and Eddie Condon, who organized this and dozens of other traditional jazz get-togethers during the 1940s. The front line of Hackett, Cutty Cutshall, Peanuts Hucko, and Ernie Caceres worked wonders. "You Do Something to Me" is a marvelous trumpet/piano duet with Joe Bushkin recorded during the second AFM recording ban; in their spoken introduction they even mention the organization's president, a Mr. Petrillo. Two quintet sessions for Columbia dating from the late summer and early autumn of 1950 combine Dixieland repertoire with relaxed swing standards; Hackett's rendering of "A Room with a View" is particularly beautiful. An unattributed vocal choir intrudes upon an unissued recording of "Sleepy Head"; this turns out to have been a premonition of production values yet to come, as Hackett's next date as a leader (Capitol Records, May 11,1953) would find him accompanied by a rhythm section augmented with four violas and a cello. This combination actually worked rather well; the fact that Hackett had Lou Stein, Billy Bauer, Arnold Fishkin, and Denzil Best in the group helped to temper the effect of the strings, which in any case were all low key, literally speaking. Hackett sounds as relaxed and sophisticated as ever on the concluding tracks, which were recorded on November 7, 1954. By this time the Capitol studios and conductor Glenn Osser were backing him with French horns, woodwinds (including flute and oboe), and a classical harp wafting away next to the rhythm section. Fortunately, the ensemble is kept under control and Hackett sounds just as happy here as he did with his old cohorts from the Condon Mob. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits : 

LENNIE TRISTANO - Intuition (2003) 4CD | BOX - SET | Serie : Proper Box | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Anyone seeking a solid introduction to the music of Lennie Tristano should make a beeline for Proper Box 64, appropriately titled Intuition. This reasonably priced four-CD set is also sure to please even the most seasoned Tristano enthusiasts, for as one of the finest Tristano collections in existence, it rates with the juiciest entries in the Proper catalog. A brilliant musical innovator who was greatly admired by Charlie Parker, Tristano acted as a sort of modern jazz professor, philosopher, and mentor to aspiring young improvisers. In many ways, his music sounds better and makes more sense today than ever before. Prior to the appearance of this set in 2003, the records he cut in May 1945 with a sextet led by tenor saxophonist Emmett Carls had only been reissued on Tristano's portion of the exhaustively complete chronological Masters of Jazz series in 1999. In an unfortunate replication of a discographical error which has cropped up elsewhere, Proper's session data incorrectly names Shorty Rogers as the trumpeter on this date. Rogers had entered the armed forces in 1943 and wouldn't return to the scene until September of 1945. The individual heard with Carls was Irwin "Markie" Markowitz, a member of Boyd Raeburn's orchestra who would cross over to Woody Herman's Herd in 1946.

Proper's overview of Tristano's first seven years of recording activity is positively exhilarating. In addition to various early piano solos, it contains his complete 1946 - 1947 Keynote recordings, along with a sampling of records he cut in 1947 for Savoy and Baronet with small groups that included guitarist Billy Bauer and John La Porta, a reed player who would collaborate with Charles Mingus in the mid-'50s. The year 1949 was an important one for Tristano and is well represented by material from seven different sessions. These include the long take of "Victory Ball" as played by the Metronome All-Stars, selections from a Prestige date with Lee Konitz, a Birdland gig featuring Warne Marsh, and two segments of a Carnegie Hall engagement involving both saxophonists. Seven dazzlingly creative sides cut for Capitol during the spring of 1949 with Marsh and Konitz constitute milestones of modernity, complete with authentic instances of intuitively coordinated group improvisation. Apparently, the recording engineers at Capitol were so intolerant and closed-minded that they made faces, gestured impatiently, and even erased two of the tracks. Small wonder then that Tristano soon established his own Jazz Records label. By October of 1951, he would be exercising his artistic autonomy by overdubbing the piano on recordings he made with a trio that included drummer Roy Haynes. This wonderful set closes with six extended jams from a concert at the UGPO Hall in Toronto on July 17, 1952, sponsored by the New Jazz Society of Toronto and the Canadian Ministry of Culture.

When traditionalist tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman first heard Tristano's "Out on a Limb," he sought him out and asked to be tutored in jazz theory and harmony. This was an uncommonly progressive move for a long-standing cohort of Eddie Condon's, and prefigures Pee Wee Russell's later excursions into modern jazz. "I never knew how much freer I would feel getting down to the basic principles," remembered Freeman. "I thought it would be instructive to study with a great musician like Lennie; I didn't know it would be so much fun." An excellent companion to this set would be Gambit's unparalleled double-CD Live at the Confucius Restaurant, along with a copy of Eunmi Shim's informative and insightful biography, Lennie Tristano: His Life in Music, which was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2007. arwulf arwulf  
Disc One : Out On A Limb (P1353)    
1-1    Emmett Carls Sextet–    Tea For Two 3:18
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Caesar, Youmans
1-2    Emmett Carls Sextet–    Tea For Two (Take 2) 2:56
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Caesar, Youmans
1-3    Emmett Carls Sextet–    Blue Lou 2:52
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Sampson, Mills
1-4    Emmett Carls Sextet–    These Foolish Things 2:33
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Link, Marvell, Strachey
1-5    Emmett Carls Sextet–    These Foolish Things (Take 2) 2:35
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Link, Marvell, Strachey
1-6    Emmett Carls Sextet–    It's The Talk Of The Town 2:13
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Neiburg, Livingston, Symes
1-7    Emmett Carls Sextet–    It's The Talk Of The Town (Take 2) 3:16
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Don Lamond
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Emmett Carls
Trombone – Earl Swope
Trumpet – Shorty Rogers
Written-By – Neiburg, Livingston, Symes
1-8    Lennie Tristano–    Yesterdays 3:03
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Kern, Harbach
1-9    Lennie Tristano–    What Is This Thing Called Love? 2:47
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Porter
1-10    Lennie Tristano–    Don't Blame Me 2:49
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Fields, McHugh
1-11    Lennie Tristano–    I Found A New Baby 2:46
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Palmer, Williams
1-12    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Can't Get Started 2:53
Bass – Leonard Gaskin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gershwin, Duke
1-13    Lennie Tristano Trio–    A Night In Tunisia 2:21
Bass – Leonard Gaskin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Paparelli
1-14    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Out On A Limb (Take 1) 2:36
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
1-15    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Out On A Limb (Take 2) 2:48
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
1-16    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Out On A Limb (Take 3) 2:39
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
1-17    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Can't Get Started (Take 1) 2:57
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gershwin, Duke
1-18    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Can't Get Started (Take 2) 2:54
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gershwin, Duke
1-19    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Surrender Dear (Take 1) 2:33
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Clifford, Barris
1-20    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Surrender Dear (Take 2) 2:16
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Clifford, Barris
1-21    Lennie Tristano Trio–    I Surrender Dear (Take 3) 3:05
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Clifford, Barris
1-22    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 1) 3:04
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
1-23    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 2) 2:31
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
1-24    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 3) 2:58
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
1-25    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 4) 2:53
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
1-26    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 5) 1:40
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
1-27    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Interlude (Take 6) 3:00
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Gillespie, Paparelli
Disc Two : New Sound (P1354)    
2-1    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Untitled Blues 3:46
Bass – Clyde Lombardi
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-2    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Blue Boy 2:47
Bass – Bob Leininger
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Bauer
2-3    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Atonement 2:27
Bass – Bob Leininger
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-4    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Coolin' Off With Ulanov (Take 1) 2:47
Bass – Bob Leininger
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-5    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Coolin' Off With Ulanov (Take 2) 2:28
Bass – Bob Leininger
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-6    Lennie Tristano–    I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You  2:55
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Crosby, Washington, Young
2-7    Lennie Tristano–    Spontaneous Combustion 2:53
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-8    Lennie Tristano–    Just Judy 2:38
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-9    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Supersonic 3:18
Bass – John Levy
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-10    Lennie Tristano Trio–    On A Planet 3:17
Bass – John Levy
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-11    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Air Pocket 2:44
Bass – John Levy
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-12    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Celestia 2:54
Bass – John Levy
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-13    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Freedom 3:37
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-14    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Parallel 2:28
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-15    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Apellation 1:53
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-16    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Abstraction 2:38
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-17    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Palimpsest 2:37
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-18    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Dissonance 2:38
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-19    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    Through These Portals 2:16
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Clarinet – John La Porta
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – La Porta
2-20    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    Speculation 2:24
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Clarinet – John La Porta
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-21    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    New Sound 2:16
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Clarinet – John La Porta
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
2-22    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    Resemblance 2:22
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Clarinet – John La Porta
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
Disc Three : Crosscurrents (P1355)    
3-1    The Metronome All Stars–    Victory Ball 4:12
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Parker
Arranged By, Directed By – Pete Rugolo
Baritone Saxophone – Ernie Caceres
Bass – Eddie Safranski
Clarinet – Buddy de Franco
Drums – Shelly Manne
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Ventura
Trombone – J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding
Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis
Written-By – Bauer, Parker, Tristano
3-2    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Tautology 2:44
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Shelly Manne
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Konitz
3-3    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Subconscious Lee 2:48
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Shelly Manne
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Konitz
3-4    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    Retrospection 3:07
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
3-5    Lennie Tristano Quartet–    Judy 2:54
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
3-6    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Wow 3:21
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Harold Granowsky
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-7    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Crosscurrent 2:50
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Harold Granowsky
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-8    Lennie Tristano–    Yesterdays 2:46
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Harold Granowsky
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
3-9    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Marionette 3:04
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Denzil Best
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Bauer
3-10    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Sax Of A Kind 2:59
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Denzil Best
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Konitz, Marsh
3-11    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Intuition 2:26
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Denzil Best
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-12    Lennie Tristano Sextette–    Digression 3:05
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Denzil Best
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-13    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Remember 7:41
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-14    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Pennies 5:45
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-15    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Foolish Things 4:06
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-16    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Indiana 5:42
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
3-17    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    I'm No Good Without You 4:19
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
Disc Four : Lennie's Pennies (P1356)    
4-1    Lennie Tristano Sextet–    Sax Of A Kind 5:12
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Joe Shulman
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Konitz, Marsh
4-2    Lennie Tristano Sextet–    You Go To My Head 4:34
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Joe Shulman
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Gillespie, Coots
4-3    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Ju-Ju 2:13
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Roy Haynes
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
4-4    Lennie Tristano Trio–    Passtime 3:38
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Roy Haynes
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Written-By – Tristano
4-5    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Lennie's Pennies 6:12
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
4-6    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    317 East 32nd 9:19
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
4-7    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    You Go To My Head 6:43
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Gillespie, Coots
4-8    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    April 8:42
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano
4-9    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Sound-Lee 7:37
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Konitz
4-10    Lennie Tristano Quintet–    Back-Home 7:56
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Peter Ind
Drums – Al Levitt
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Written-By – Tristano

LENNIE TRISTANO - 1946-1947 (2001) CC, 1184 | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Records bearing Lennie Tristano's name began to appear in 1946. His amazing music filled the closing chapter of Harry Lim's Keynote catalog, and you couldn't ask for a more futuristic finale. "Out on a Limb" opens with a pleasantly dissonant flurry of ascending and descending runs. It is an exciting taste of where jazz was headed then and has been heading ever since. Tristano's music is refreshingly brisk and challenging. Like so many compositions in early modern jazz, most of Lennie's creations were based on existing melodies. "Out on a Limb" is built over the chord progressions of Earl Hines' "You Can Depend on Me," a song that was also clearly the inspiration for Lerner & Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love." Guitarist Billy Bauer was Lennie's right-hand man. He often carried the melody so the pianist could fully exercise his individuality. Lennie liked to initiate startling pinwheels of repetition where you'd least expect them to appear. Several times during "I Can't Get Started," he cheerfully knocks out a stack of what would conventionally have been considered "wrong notes." Everything flows naturally, especially on "Untitled Blues," which is three minutes and 45 seconds of free and fearless collective improvisation. Stopping abruptly in mid-phrase, apparently because somebody told him they were running out of room on the 10" recording platter, Tristano is silent, then traces a few more arpeggios as a voice asks, "What happened?" The musicians had slipped into full-throttle jam mode, forgetting that they were in a recording studio, subject to time constraints. This wonderful piece of vérité languished for years before being issued as part of the complete Keynote collection. On the October 8, 1946, session, Tristano ran down no less than six versions of Dizzy Gillespie's "Interlude." What we have here is the first take. Six days later, Tristano's trio made two sides for V-Disc, specifically intended for the cultural enrichment of armed forces personnel. Here again was Gillespie's tune, now bearing the title "A Night in Tunisia." Lennie recorded a series of unaccompanied piano solos in September of 1947, but the people at Victor Records couldn't bring themselves to issue these tracks at the time. Thank goodness listeners get to hear them now! Unlike a lot of peoples' chronological reissues, this one is consistent from stem to stern. While digesting multiple Keynote takes is a gas, it's good to hear just the masters bundled together with some of Tristano's rarest small-label sides. About halfway through the disc you stop trying to figure out which jazz standards were used as skeletons for adventurous collective improvisation. You grow lightheaded, and all that really matters are the rituals of experimentation and humble acceptance. As Ornette Coleman would say, after a certain point there really are no wrong notes. Or, as Arnold Schoenberg might add, no tone is more or less legitimate than any other. Which brings us to the question of how something can be "avant-garde" when it's been around for generations. Doesn't the term tell us more about audience -- and critical -- limitations than it does about music or art? The answers lie somewhere between these early Tristano recordings and the extended improvisations that Anthony Braxton has based upon Tristano's still-astonishing ideas. There is no limit to what can be accomplished with intuitive music. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1     Out on a Limb 2:43
Lennie Tristano
2     I Can't Get Started 2:57
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
3     I Surrender, Dear 3:08
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
4     Untitled Blues 3:47
Lennie Tristano
5     Interlude 3:07
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
6     I Can't Get Started 2:55
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
7     A Night in Tunisia 2:23
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
8     Blue Boy 2:51
Lennie Tristano
9     Atonement 2:28
Lennie Tristano
10     Coolin' Off With Ulanov 2:50
Lennie Tristano
11     I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You 2:57
Bing Crosby / Ned Washington / Victor Young
12     Spontaneous Combustion 2:56
Unknown
13     Just Judy 2:40
Lennie Tristano
14     Supersonic 3:21
Lennie Tristano
15     On a Planet 3:20
Lennie Tristano
16     Air Pocket 2:47
Lennie Tristano
17     Celestia 2:56
Lennie Tristano
18     Freedom 3:40
Lennie Tristano
19     Parallel 2:30
Lennie Tristano
20     Apellation 1:55
Lennie Tristano
21     Abstraction 2:41
Lennie Tristano
22     Palimpsest 2:37
Lennie Tristano
Credits :
Bass – Arnold Fishkin (tracks: 18 to 22), Bob Leininger (tracks: 8 to 10), Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 1 to 5), John Levy (tracks: 14 to 17), Leonard Gaskin (tracks: 6, 7)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 1 to 10, 14 to 22)
Piano – Lennie Tristano

LENNIE TRISTANO - 1947-1951 (2003) CC, 1290 | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This second volume in the chronological Classics anthology of Lennie Tristano from his Capitol and Prestige recordings is where the mature composer and improviser appears from his former skeleton. Beginning with the original version of "Dissonance," featuring guitarist Billy Bauer and bassist Arnold Fishkin, the set concentrates on Tristano's emerging and very complex ideas about melodic improvisation. The masters for early tracks here come from a session cut on New Year's Eve in 1947, and include clarinetist John LaPorta on such visionary compositions as "Through These Portals," with its dual melodic front line playing an extrapolated harmonic counterpoint via the piano and guitar, then being bridged by a common third line played by LaPorta, whose solo is almost a tag upon the two entwining solo lines played throughout. "Speculation" is pure chordal genius, with rhythms cascading in two directions against a nearly expressionistic melodic integration of variously shaded harmonics. The first sessions of both the quintet and quartet with Lee Konitz are here, too, with Konitz's unique phrasing on the shimmering bop of "Progression," "Tautology," and, of course, "Subconscious-Lee." Tristano was a giant of the intellect, and his knotty approach to deconstructing harmonics and creating new melodies from the ruins appealed to Konitz, who was, and remains, a melodist. Later that same year, in 1949, Tristano added second saxophonist Warne Marsh to the mix, and that magical pairing found its voice on the front lines of "Crosscurrent," "Intuition," and the stellar "Marionette." Finally, the 1951 trio sides with Roy Haynes and Peter Ind make clear that these new architectures Tristano was building could be erected by himself and a rhythm section, and in some ways were even bigger as a result of that. These ideas have never been fully integrated into the jazz canon as they should be, but nonetheless, with recordings like this abounding now, it cannot be long before they are
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Dissonance 2:40
Lennie Tristano
2     Through These Portals 2:18
John LaPorta
3     Speculation (Ear, Eyes) 2:2
Horace Silver / Lennie Tristano
4     New Sound 2:19
Lennie Tristano
5     Resemblance 2:24
Lennie Tristano
6     Progression 3:01
Lee Konitz
7     Tautology 2:46
Lee Konitz
8     Retrospection 3:10
Duke Ellington / Lennie Tristano
9     Subconscious-Lee 2:50
Lee Konitz
10     Judy 2:56
Lennie Tristano
11     Wow 3:22
Lennie Tristano
12     Crosscurrent 2:52
Lennie Tristano
13     Yesterdays 2:49
Jerome Kern / Lennie Tristano
14     Marionette 3:06
Billy Bauer
15     Sax of a Kind 3:02
Lee Konitz / Warne Marsh
16     Intuition 2:29
Lennie Tristano
17     Digression (Intuition II) 3:05
Lennie Tristano
18     Ju-Ju 2:16
Lennie Tristano
19     Passtime 3:39
Lennie Tristano

LENNIE TRISTANO and WARNE MARSH - Intuition (1996) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 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  
Tracklist :
1    Warne Marsh–    Smog Eyes 3:32
Written-By – Ted Brown
2    Warne Marsh–    Ear Conditioning 5:13
Written-By – Ronnie Ball
3    Warne Marsh–    Lover Man 4:28
Written-By – Davis, Sherman, Ramirez
4    Warne Marsh–    Quintessence 4:14
Written-By – Ronnie Ball
5    Warne Marsh–    Jazz Of Two Cities 4:32
Written-By – Ted Brown
6    Warne Marsh–    Dixie's Dilemma 4:20
Written-By – Warne Marsh
7    Warne Marsh–    Tschaikovsky's Opus #42, Third Movement 3:59
Traditional
8    Warne Marsh–    I Never Knew 5:00
Written-By – G. Khan, T. FioRita
9    Warne Marsh–    Ear Conditioning (Mono Master) 5:14
Written-By – Ronnie Ball
10    Warne Marsh–    Lover Man (Mono Master) 4:29
Written-By – Davis, Sherman, Ramirez
11    Warne Marsh–    Jazz Of Two Cities (Mono Take) 4:39
Written-By – Ted Brown
12    Warne Marsh–    I Never Knew (Mono Take) 5:09
Written-By – Kahn, T. FioRita
13    Lennie Tristano–    Wow 3:19
Written-By – Lennie Tristano
14    Lennie Tristano–    Crosscurrent 2:48
Written-By – Lennie Tristano
15    Lennie Tristano–    Yesterdays 2:45
Written-By – Lennie Tristano
16    Lennie Tristano–    Marionette 3:04
Written-By – Billy Bauer
17    Lennie Tristano–    Sax Of A Kind 2:59
Written-By – L. Tristano, W. Marsh
18    Lennie Tristano–    Intuition 2:27
Written-By – Lennie Tristano
19    Lennie Tristano–    Digression 3:04
Written-By – Lennie Tristano     
Credits :
1-12
Bass – Ben Tucker
Drums – Jeff Morton
Piano – Ronnie Ball
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
13-19
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Denzil Best (tracks: 16 to 19), Harold Granowsky (tracks: 13, 14),
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Notas.
Tracks 1 to 8 are stereo, all other selections are mono.
The Warne Marsh album that begins this CD was issued in mono as "Jazz Of Two Cities" (Imperial LP 9027) and in stereo as "Winds Of Marsh" (Imperial LP 12013). The mono and stereo takes of "Jazz Of Two Cities" and "I Never Knew" are completely different. The second saxophone solo on "Ear Conditioning" and the piano solo on "Lover Man" differ on the stereo and mono masters. Both versions of these four tunes are therefore included here.
Tracks 1 to 4, 9 & 10 recorded on October 3, 1956 at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles.
Tracks 5 to 8, 11 & 12 recorded on October 11, 1956 at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles.
Tracks 13 & 14 recorded on March 4, 1949 in New York.
Tracks 15 recorded on March 14, 1949 in New York.
Tracks 16 to 19 recorded on May 16, 1949 in New York.

LENNIE TRISTANO TRIO - The Complete Lennie Tristano | SERIE : The Essential Keynote Collection 2 (1987) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The earliest of these 19 sides, dating from 1946, capture Lennie Tristano at age 27, newly arrived in New York and beginning to carve a place for himself in the embryonic bebop scene. Playing with Billy Bauer on guitar and bassist Clyde Lombardi, Tristano shows off a mix of youthful verse and pianistic elegance, coupled with effortless, seamless invention, matched by Bauer's crisp, economical, yet quietly flamboyant guitar. Other, later sides included here, from the following year, capture Tristano and company moving into more dissonant and experimental territory, challenging the listeners without ever losing them as he ranges across unexpected tonalities. It's all glorious listening, and don't be put off by the multiple takes of all but three compositions here because no two are alike enough to make it seem like you've been there before. Bruce Eder
Tracklist :
1     Out on a Limb (Take 1) 2:38
Lennie Tristano
2     Out on a Limb (Take 2) 2:51
Lennie Tristano
3     Out on a Limb (Take 3) 2:41
Lennie Tristano
4     I Can't Get Started (Take 1) 2:58
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
5     I Can't Get Started (Take 2) 2:55
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
6     I Surrender, Dear (Take 1) 2:34
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
7     I Surrender, Dear (Take 2) 2:20
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
8     I Surrender, Dear (Take 3) 3:06
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
9     Untitled Blues 3:48
Lennie Tristano
10     Interlude (Take 1) 3:56
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
11     Interlude (Take 2) 2:32
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
12     Interlude (Take 3) 3:00
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
13     Interlude (Take 4) 2:56
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli    
14     Interlude (Take 5) 1:42
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
15     Interlude (Take 6) 3:02
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
16     Blue Boy 2:48
Lennie Tristano
17     Atonement 2:30
Lennie Tristano
18     Coolin' off With Ulanov (Take 1) 2:49
Lennie Tristano
19     Coolin' off With Ulanov (Take 2) 2:30
Lennie Tristano
Credits :
Bass – Bob Leininger (tracks: 16 to 19), Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 1 to 15)
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano

LENNIE TRISTANO - Lennie Tristano Personal Recordings 1946-1970 (2021) 6CD| BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Dot Time Records and Mosaic Records, in partnership for the first time, are thrilled to announce the release of Lennie Tristano Personal Recordings 1946 – 1970. This 6-CD set chronicles over twenty years of stunning creative output from jazz luminary Lennie Tristano offering listeners the most comprehensive portrait of Tristano’s musical genius available.
Tracklist :
CD1    Trio With Billy Bauer - Live Performances (0:59:31)
CD2    Solo Piano (0:56:08)
CD3    Sextet - Live Performances (0:56:13)
CD4    Trio Sessions (1:03:34)
CD5    Duos And Trios With Sonny Dallas (0:57:49)
CD6    1948 Free Session + Live At The Half Note (1:01:43)
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz (tracks: 3-1 to 3-8, 6-1 to 6-7, 6-14)
Bass – Arnold Fishkin (tracks: 1-15, 3-1 to 3-6), Joe Shulman (tracks: 3-7, 3-8), Peter Ind (tracks: 4-1 to 4-11), Sonny Dallas (tracks: 5-1 to 5-8, 6-8 to 6-14)
Drums – Al Levitt (tracks: 4-8 to 4-11), Jeff Morton (tracks: 3-1 to 3-8), Nick Stabulas (tracks: 5-7, 5-8, 6-8 to 6-14), Tom Wayburn (tracks: 4-1 to 4-7)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 1-1 to 1-5, 1-7 to 1-15, 3-1 to 3-8, 6-1 to 6-7, 6-14)
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh (tracks: 3-1 to 3-8, 6-1 to 6-7), Zoot Sims (tracks: 6-14)

LENNIE TRISTANO - Out on a Limb (1998) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The first 25 recordings ever to have appeared under Lennie Tristano's name are presented in chronological sequence on this deluxe double-disc anthology released in 1998 by the Indigo label. No wind instruments are heard on this compilation. Tracks one through four are piano solos recorded in Chicago at some point in 1945 or 1946. Tristano's individuality is evident in the music itself as well as in the song titles, for although this album's track listing doesn't reveal it, "Yesterdays" became "Glad Am I," "What Is This Thing Called Love?" was rechristened "This Is Called Love" and "Don't Blame Me" was humorously shortened to "Blame Me." Two V-Disc selections from October 14, 1946 with guitarist Billy Bauer and bassist Leonard Gaskin lead into the strikingly productive session of October 8, 1946. From here on out (disc one: cut seven through to the end of disc two) what you get are the complete Keynote recordings of the Lennie Tristano Trio, featuring guitarist Bauer and bassists Clyde Lombardi and Bob Leininger. It's a cornucopia of alternate takes, including three versions of "Out on a Limb" (based in the chord progressions of "You Can Depend on Me"); three of "I Surrender Dear" and no less than six renderings of Dizzy Gillespie's "Interlude," soon to be known worldwide as "Night in Tunisia." The listener might well wish to approach the six Interludes as one 18-minute entity cleverly composed of cyclic choruses. As this music was recorded on 78 rpm records, a time limit of roughly three and a half minutes was imposed upon these ambitious improvisers, who in fact sound very reluctant to stop playing at the end of the "Untitled Blues." As for the successive multiple takes, there's a lot to be said for this kind of a listening experience, as one may savor the flavor of things done similarly yet differently so many times in sequence. Special honors should go to Keynote's creator and producer Harry Lim (these were to be the last entries in his stunning catalog of approximately 343 sides, involving some 200 jazz musicians, recorded between March 1941 and May 1947) and Tristano's critical ally Barry Ulanov, a vigorous supporter of modern music who suddenly found himself immortalized by the catchy title "Coolin' Off with Ulanov." arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1     Yesterdays 3:06
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
2     What Is This Thing Called Love? 2:49
Cole Porter
3     Don't Blame Me 2:51
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
4     I Found a New Baby 2:48
Jack Palmer / Spencer Williams
5     I Can't Get Started 2:56
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
6     A Night in Tunisia 2:24
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
7     Out on a Limb (Take 1) 2:39
Lennie Tristano
8    Out on a Limb (Take 2) 2:51
Lennie Tristano
9     Out on a Limb (Take 3) 2:41
Lennie Tristano
10     I Can't Get Started (Take 1) 2:58
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
11     I Can't Get Started (Take 2) 2:55
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
12     I Surrender, Dear (Take 1) 2:34
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
13     I Surrender, Dear (Take 2) 2:18
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
14     I Surrender, Dear (Take 3) 3:06
Harry Barris / Gordon Clifford
15     Interlude (Take 1) 3:05
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
16     Interlude (Take 2) 2:33
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
17     Interlude (Take 3) 3:00
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
18     Interlude (Take 4) 2:55
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
19     Interlude (Take 5) 1:42
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
20     Interlude (Take 6) 3:02
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
21     Untitled Blues 3:47
Lennie Tristano
22     Blue Boy 2:49
Billy Bauer / Lennie Tristano
23     Atonement 2:29
Lennie Tristano
24     Coolin' off with Ulanov (Take 1) 2:49
Lennie Tristano
25     Coolin' off with Ulanov (Take 2) 2:30
Lennie Tristano
Credits :
Bass – Bob Leininger (tracks: 22-25), Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 7-21), Leonard Gaskin (tracks: 5, 6)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 5-25)
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Notas.
Chicago, 1946 (1-4).
New York, late 1946 (5-6).
New York, October 8, 1946 (7-21).
New York, May 23, 1947 (22-25).

LENNIE TRISTANO QUINTET - Live at Birdland 1949 (1979-1990) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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  
Tracklist :
1    Lennie Tristano Quintet– Remember    7:40
2    Lennie Tristano Quintet– Pennies    5:45
3    Lennie Tristano Quintet– Foolish Things    4:06
4    Lennie Tristano Quintet– Indiana    5:42
5    Lennie Tristano Quintet– I'm No Good Without You    4:19
6    Lennie Tristano– Glad I Am    2:57
7    Lennie Tristano– This Is Called Love    2:42
8    Lennie Tristano– Blame Me    2:42
9    Lennie Tristano– I Found My Baby    2:42
Credits :
Lennie Tristano Quintet
Bass, Recorded By – Arnold Fishkin
Drums – Jeff Morton
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Piano, Composed By – Lennie Tristano

LENNIE TRISTANO - Requiem (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Towards the end of the 20th century, the Giants of Jazz reissue label came out with a series of compilations that paid tribute to the amazingly creative musical mind of Lennie Tristano. Requiem offers 13 tracks recorded in New York City between the years 1949 and 1955, beginning with a pair of piano solos (the gnarly overdubbed "Turkish Mambo" and the beautiful reflective blues "Requiem") along with two studies for trio involving bassist Peter Ind and drummer Jeff Morton. "East Thirty-Second" was named for the address of Tristano's home recording studio, where these first four titles were taped in 1954 and 1955. Tracks five through nine and track 11 were distilled from the first and fourth of a five-set marathon recording session that took place live in the Sing Song Room of the Confucius Restaurant on June 11, 1955 with saxophonist Lee Konitz, drummer Art Taylor and bassist Gene Ramey, whose eventful career traces a trajectory from Lester Young through Charlie Parker to Lennie Tristano. Originally released on the Atlantic label, these wonderfully cohesive and consistently inspired performances still convey the intimate immediacy of relaxed collective improvisation. "Sax of a Kind" was extracted from the Capitol recording session of May 16, 1949, with Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh in front of Tristano, guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Arnold Fishkin and drummer Denzil Best. For dessert the producers tacked on the short takes from the famous RCA Metronome All Stars date of January 3, 1949, stoked by a formidable 13-piece ensemble with a front line made up of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Charlie Ventura, J.J. Johnson, Buddy DeFranco and Ernie Caceres. Legend has it that Bird deliberately feigned befuddlement at Pete Rugolo's arrangement in order to stall for time and draw a few unionized "Overtime" dollars for himself and his 12 session mates. Tristano's "Victory Ball" helped to establish a modern tradition that was still bearing fruit when Anthony Braxton included it on his hatART album Eight (+3) Tristano Compositions 1989 for Warne Marsh. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1     East Thirty-Second 4:31
Lennie Tristano
2     Turkish Mambo 3:29
Lennie Tristano
3     Requiem 4:51
Lennie Tristano
4     Line Up 3:31
Lennie Tristano
5     These Foolish Things 5:43
Harry Link / Holt Marvell / Jack Strachey
6     All the Things You Are 6:10
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
7     You Go to My Head 5:22
J. Fred Coots / Haven Gillespie
8     I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You 6:03
Bing Crosby / Ned Washington / Victor Young
9     If I Had You 6:26
Jimmy Campbell / Reginald Connelly / Ted Shapiro
10     Sax of a Kind 5:11
Lennie Tristano
11     Confucius Blues 6:38
Lennie Tristano
12     Overtime 3:07
Pete Rugolo
13     Victory Ball 2:40
Lennie Tristano
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Parker (tracks: 12, 13), Lee Konitz (tracks: 5 to 11)
Baritone Saxophone – Ernie Caceres (tracks: 12, 13)
Bass – Eddie Safranski (tracks: 12, 13), Gene Ramey (tracks: 5 to 9, 11), Joe Shulman (tracks: 10), Peter Ind (tracks: 1, 4)
Clarinet – Buddy De Franco (tracks: 12, 13)
Drums – Arthur Taylor (tracks: 5 to 9, 11), Jeff Morton (tracks: 1, 4, 10), Shelly Manne (tracks: 12, 13), Unknown Artist (tracks: 2)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 10, 12, 13)
Orchestra – Metronome All Stars (tracks: 12, 13)
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Ventura (tracks: 12, 13), Warne Marsh (tracks: 10)
Trombone – J.J. Johnson (tracks: 12, 13), Kai Winding (tracks: 12, 13)
Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie (tracks: 12, 13), Fats Navarro (tracks: 12, 13), Miles Davis (tracks: 12, 13)

LENNIE TRISTANO SEXTET - Wow (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

As is true of the Jazz label's CDs, there are no liner notes on this release and the total time falls into the range of an LP, but this is a rare live performance by pianist Lennie Tristano's finest group. The identities of the bassist and drummer (who are both relegated to quiet timekeeping) are unknown but the other musicians are quite distinctive. With altoist Lee Konitz, tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh and guitarist Billy Bauer contributing their voices, Tristano explores a variety of common chord changes, a brief Fugue by Bach and his remarkable title cut. Well worth acquiring. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     Wow 8:27
Lennie Tristano
2     Remembrance 3:52
Lennie Tristano
3     April Fool 9:51
Billy Bauer
4     Subconscious Lee 3:50
Lee Konitz
5     Fugue in D minor, BWV 899 1:05
Johann Sebastian Bach
6     Chord Interlude 0:26
Lennie Tristano
7     Sound-Lee 7:52
Lee Konitz
8     Do the Things You Do 3:32
Lennie Tristano
9     No Figs 7:43
Lennie Tristano
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Lennie Tristano (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9)
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Notas.
Recorded live in New York c.1950.
Bassist and drummer unidentified.

LENNIE TRISTANO ALL STARS - Live at the Café Bohemia (2008) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This exciting compilation (which might more accurately have been called "Live at the Pied Piper and the Half Note") should come as a pleasant surprise to early modern jazz lovers, especially those who admire the work of pianist and philosopher Lennie Tristano. Tracks 1-5, credited to trombonist Bill Harris & His All Stars, were recorded in live performance on August 22, 1947 inside the Pied Piper at 15 Barrow Street in New York City's West Village. These tracks were released on LP in the '70s as Jazz Showcase 5001, A Knight in the Village. The Pied Piper mainly featured old-school jazz players like Wilbur De Paris and James P. Johnson, and wouldn't become the Café Bohemia until 1949 when it was purchased by one James Garofolo, who didn't adopt a rigorously progressive jazz policy until six years later. Bill Harris was a modernist associated with the bop-addled Woody Herman and Charlie Ventura bands. Tristano and tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips received feature billing, with the rest of the All-Stars, consisting of guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Chubby Jackson, and drummer Denzil Best. On "Flip Meets Bill," Tristano was replaced by Argonne Thornton, who was on the verge of changing his name to Sadik Hakim. He is remembered for his work with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, and Lester Young, a master improviser who was one of Tristano's personal heroes.
The rest of the material presented here was recorded inside the Half Note at 289 Hudson Street on June 6, 1964 for use in a Look Up & Live television broadcast narrated by Dr. William Hamilton. Originally released on Tristano's Jazz Records label, tracks 6-8 feature saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh with bassist Sonny Dallas and drummer Nick Stabulas. If part of this lineup rings a few bells, note that in 1961, Konitz, Dallas, and Stabulas (as well as Elvin Jones) made a bunch of studio recordings for Verve which were released in 2007 on Universal's deluxe three-CD "Elite Edition" of Motion. That package, which fairly bristles with alternate takes, is recommended as a vibrant counterpart to this double reissue of uncommon location recordings which feature the predictably unpredictable Lennie Tristano. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1     What Is This Thing Called Love? 13:48
Cole Porter
2     Just You, Just Me 10:37
Jesse Greer / Raymond Klages
3     A Knight in the Village 9:40
Bill Harris
4     Medley: Body and Soul/Sweet Lorraine 4:02
Cliff Burwell / Mitchell Parish
5     Flip Meets Bill 10:35
Bill Harris / Flip Phillips
6     Subconscious-Lee ["Look Up & Live" TV Broadcast, Half Note, NY, June 6, 1964] 6:17
Lennie Tristano
7     317 East 32nd ["Look Up & Live" TV Broadcast, Half Note, NY, June 6, 1964] 9:53
Lennie Tristano
8     Background Music ["Look Up & Live" TV Broadcast, Half Note, NY, June 6, 1964] 9:59
Lennie Tristano
Credits :    
1-5
Ensemble – Lennie Tristano Sextet
Bass – Chubby Jackson
Drums – Denzil Best
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Tenor Saxophone – Flip Phillips
Trombone – Bill Harris
Piano – Lennie Tristano (tracks: 1 to 4)
6-8
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – , Sonny Dallas
Drums – Nick Stabulas
Piano – Lennie Tristano
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh
Notas.
Tracks 1-5: Live at the Café Bohemia, August 22, 1947.
Bonus tracks 6-8: "Look Up & Live" TV Broadcast, live from the Half Note, New York, June 6, 1964.

LEE KONITZ - Subconscious-Lee (1955-1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A debut for both Lee Konitz and the Prestige label, Subconscious-Lee brings together many of the students who came through Lennie Tristano's idiosyncratic "school" of jazz during the immediate postwar years. Forging a heady approach to Charlie Parker's innovations, full of lithe and at times super fast solo lines, Tristano and his favorite pupil Konitz in particular nurtured an introverted, wan, yet still swinging alternative to the frenetic muscle of bebop. Other students like tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, pianist Sal Mosca, and bassist Arnold Fishkin staked claims as well and show up prominently here. And while Tristano's "Judy" and "Retrospection" get mired in somewhat tired contemplation, Konitz' "Subconscious-Lee" and Marsh's "Marshmallow" stand out with brisk tempos, cascading horn lines, and fetching head statements. Avoiding the meandering course of his originals, Tristano shines at the piano with a bevy of exciting and substantial solos; Mosca and guitarist Billy Bauer keep up the good work with fine contributions of their own. Good for both mind and feet and chock-full of groundbreaking work by Konitz and Marsh especially, this 1949-1950 recording makes for essential jazz listening. [One bonus track, "Progression," is added to this version of Subconscious-Lee.] Stephen Cook  
Tracklist :
1     Progression 3:02
Lee Konitz
2     Tautology 2:45
Lee Konitz
3     Retrospection 3:09
Lennie Tristano
4     Subconcious-Lee 2:49
Lee Konitz
5     Judy 2:56
Lennie Tristano
6     Marshmallow 2:55
Warne Marsh
7     Fishin' Around 3:47
Warne Marsh
8    Tautology 2:56
Lee Konitz
9     Sound-Lee 4:08
Lee Konitz
10     Rebecca 3:05
Lee Konitz
11     You Go to My Head 2:38
J. Fred Coots
12     Ice Cream Konitz 2:45
Lee Konitz
13     Palo Alto 2:31
Lee Konitz
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Arnold Fishkin (tracks: 1 to 9, 11 to 13)
Drums – Denzil Best (tracks: 6, 7), Jeff Morton (tracks: 8, 9, 11 to 13), Shelly Manne (tracks: 1 to 4)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 1 to 5, 10 to 13)
Piano – Lennie Tristano (tracks: 1 to 5), Sal Mosca (tracks: 6 to 9, 12, 13)
Remastered By [Digital Remastering, 1991] – Phil De Lancie
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh (tracks: 6 to 9)
Notas.
Selections #1-5 recorded January 11, 1949; #6-7 June 28, 1949; #8-9: September 27, 1949; #10-13: April 7, 1950. All selections recorded in New York.
The "Progression" originally issued on Subconscious-Lee was mistitled; it was in fact "Tautology." The real "Progression," which is included in this CD as a bonus track, was previously released in the twofer 25 Years of Prestige (P-24046).

LEE KONITZ | WARNE MARSH - Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh (1955-1998) Atlantic Original Sound | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Altoist Lee Konitz and tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh always made for a perfect team. Even by the mid-'50s when they were not as influenced by Lennie Tristano as previously (particularly Konitz), their long melodic lines and unusual tones caused them to stand out from the crowd. On this LP reissue Konitz and Marsh co-lead a particularly strong group that also includes pianist Sal Mosca, guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke. Their renditions of "originals" based on common chord changes along with versions of "Topsy," "There Will Never Be Another You" and "Donna Lee" are quite enjoyable and swing hard yet fall into the category of cool jazz. This set is worth searching for, as are all of the Konitz-Marsh collaborations. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     Topsy 5:29
Edgar Battle / Eddie Durham
2     There Will Never Be Another You 4:49   
Harry Warren
3     I Can't Get Started 3:58
Vernon Duke
4     Donna Lee 6:17
Charlie Parker
5     Two Not One 5:35
Lennie Tristano
6     Don't Squawk 7:20
Oscar Pettiford
7     Ronnie's Line 3:10
Ronnie Ball
8     Background Music 5:45
Warne Marsh
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Oscar Pettiford
Drums – Kenny Clarke
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Piano – Ronnie Ball (tracks: 7), Sal Mosca (tracks: 2, 4 to 6, 8)
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh

THE LEE KONITZ QUARTET - Tranquility (1957-1999) RM | MONO | Verve Original Collection 50 – 13 | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Lee Konitz' Verve label debut remains the purest expression of the sculpted, geometric aesthetic the altoist honed throughout the Eisenhower era -- crafted with startling precision and economy, Tranquility extols the virtues of mood and shape with Talmudic zeal, towering astride thought and expression. Supported by the bedrock rhythm section of bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Dave Bailey, Konitz and guitarist Billy Bauer weave melodies as intricate and ephemeral as spider webs. Rarely is music so profoundly cerebral also so deeply heartfelt. Jason Ankeny
Tracklist :
1     Stephanie 3:57
Lee Konitz
2     Memories of You 3:12
Eubie Blake / Andy Razaf
3     People Will Say We're in Love 4:57
Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers
4     When You're Smiling 3:48
Mark Fisher / Joe Goodwin / Larry Shay
5     Sunday 3:26
Chester Cohn / Benny Krueger / Ned Miller / Jule Styne
6     Lennie Bird 5:25
Lennie Tristano
7     The Nearness of You 6:09
Hoagy Carmichael / Ned Washington
8     Jonquil 3:09
Werner Bauer
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Bass – Henry Grimes
Drums – Dave Bailey
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Notas.
Recorded October 22, 1957 in New York.
As per the original release, the sleeve lists track four as "When You're In Love" while labels list "When You're Smiling".