ENDEIT
Lee Konitz
Photo: Schorle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alto saxophonists · 1927–2020

Lee Konitz

American jazz musician (1927–2020)

Born
13 October 1927
Chicago
Died
15 April 2020
Greenwich Village
Country
United States
Active
1940–2020
Record labels
Atlantic Records, Enja Records, Impulse!, RCA Red Seal
Discography
156 albums

Biography

Lee Konitz was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone and soprano saxophone. Lee Konitz was born on 13 October 1927 in Chicago and died on 15 April 2020 in Greenwich Village. The music is usually filed under jazz and bebop. Record labels: Atlantic Records, Enja Records, Impulse! and RCA Red Seal. The discography here lists 156 albums, from “The New Sounds” (1951) to “En la Fundación Valparaíso” (2024). Honours include NEA Jazz Masters and Paul Acket Award.

Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz movement of the 1940s and 1950s includes participation in Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool sessions and his work with pianist Lennie Tristano. He was one of relatively few alto saxophonists of this era to retain a distinctive style, when Charlie Parker exerted a massive influence. Like other students of Tristano, Konitz improvised long, melodic lines with the rhythmic interest coming from odd accents, or odd note groupings suggestive of the imposition of one time signature over another. Other saxophonists were strongly influenced by Konitz, such as Paul Desmond and Art Pepper. He died during the COVID-19 pandemic from complications brought on by the disease.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Discography

Studio and live albums

The New Sounds 1951
Lee Konitz Plays With the Gerry Mulligan Quartet 1953
Originalee Konitz 1953
Konitz 1954
Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh 1955
Subconscious-Lee 1955
Inside Hi-Fi 1956
Swingtime 1956
Konitz Meets Mulligan 1957
The Real Lee Konitz 1957 · Live
Very Cool 1957
An Image 1958
Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre 1959
You and Lee 1959
Motion 1961
Lee Konitz meets Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker & Bill Evans: Live in Europe 1965 · Live
Alto Summit 1968
Stereokonitz 1968
European Episode 1969
Impressive Rome 1969
At Storyville 1971 · Live
Worth While Konitz 1972
Lone-Lee 1975
Satori 1975
I Concentrate on You 1976
Jazz a confronto 32 1976
Lee Konitz Meets Warne Marsh Again 1976 · Live
London Concert 1977 · Live
Timespan 1977
Duplicity 1978
French Concert 1979 · Live
Sax of a Kind - Lee Konitz in Sweden 1951/53 1979 · Live
High Jingo 1982
Live at the Berlin Jazz Days 1980 1982 · Live
Jazz At Storyville 1984
Glad, Koonix! (Lee Konitz Live In Sweden) 1986 · Live
Windows 1987
12 Gershwin In 12 Keys 1988 · Live
Round & Round 1988
Solitudes 1988
Blew 1989
Chicago'n All That Jazz 1989
Lee Konitz in Rio 1989
The Lee Konitz Duets 1990
Friends 1992 · Live
From Newport to Nice 1992 · Live
Lunasea 1992
Pyramid 1992
Italian Ballads Vol.1 - Parlami D'Amore Mariù 1993
Lee Konitz e Il suono improvviso a Venezia 1993
Leewise 1993
Rhapsody II 1993
The Jobim Collection 1993
Very Fool 1993
Lee Konitz Meets Don Friedman 1994
Live At The Half Note 1994 · Live
Speakin' Lowly 1994
Swiss Kiss 1994
Brazilian Rhapsody 1995
Breaths and Whispers 1995
Dedicated to Lee (Play the Music of Lars Gullin) 1995
Haiku 1995
Into It 1995
Lee Konitz/Bob Brookmeyer in Paris 1995
Live At The Manhattan Jazz Club 1995 · Live
Rhapsody 1995
Body and Soul (Dedicated to the Memory of Warne Marsh) 1996
Brazilian Serenade 1996
Ezz-Thetic 1996
Friend Lee 1996
Guarana 1996
Inside Cole Porter 1996
It's You 1996
Seasons Change 1996
Strings for Holiday 1996
Tenorlee 1996
Alone Together 1997 · Live
Another Shade of Blue 1997
DiG DuG DoG 1997
L'Age mür 1997
Out of Nowhere 1997
Saxophone Dreams 1997
Subconscious Lee 1997
Sweet & Lovely 1997 · Live
The Frankfurt Concert 1997
The Lee Konitz Duets 1997
Wild as Springtime 1997
All The Way (The Soft Way) 1998
Dialogues 1998
Motion 1998
Self Portrait 1998
Star Eyes, Hamburg 1983 1998 · Live
Where's the Blues 1998
Dig Dug Dog 1999
On Track 1999
Sound of Surprise 1999
Three Guys 1999
Live at Birdland Neuburg 2000 · Live
Play French Impressionistic Music From The 20th Century 2000
Pride 2000
Thingin' 2000
After Hours 2001 · Live
Ides Of March 2001
Inside Rodgers 2001
Parallels 2001
Pugni Chiusi 2001
Some New Stuff 2001
Unleemited 2001
Duas Contas 2002
Music Of Konitz 2002
Outra Vez 2002
Subconscious Lee 2002
A Day in Florence 2003
Live-Lee 2003 · Live
Suite For Paolo 2003
BargaLee 2004 · Live
More Live-Lee 2004 · Live
Eu Não Existo (Thanks, A.C. Jobim) 2005
Live at Dinant Jazz Nights 2005 · Live
Passion Flower (for Billy Strayhorn) 2005
The Glenn Gould Session 2005
Jugendstil II 2006
Lullaby of Birdland 2006
New Nonet 2006
Organic-Lee 2006
The Soprano Sax Album (Standards Revisited) 2006
Alone & Together 2007
Ashiya 2007
Live in Oslo 2007 · Live
Meeting Again 2007 · Live
Poetical Lee 81+15=96! 2007
Deep Lee 2008
Palo Alto 2008 · Live
Duos with Lee 2009
Duplicity 2009
Konitz Plays Konitz 2010
Knowinglee 2011
Live at Birdland 2011 · Live
Someone to Watch Over Me 2011
Enfants Terribles: Live at the Blue Note 2012 · Live
First Meeting (Live in London, Volume 1) 2014 · Live
Standards Live ~ At the Village Vanguard 2014 · Live
Frescalalto 2017
Decade 2018
Nicolas Simion Meets Lee Konitz 2018
BRADLEE 2021
En la Fundación Valparaíso 2024 · Live
An Evening with Lee Konitz and Frank Wunsch (Live, Cologne, 1996)
Anti-Heroes · Live
Chicago 'n' All That Jazz
Dovetail
Figure & Spirit
Insight
Spirits
Tranquility
Unaccompanied Live in Yokohama · Live

Also plays on

Albums where Lee Konitz is credited as a sideman

1957 Miles Ahead — Miles Davis alto saxophone
1976 All the Things We Are — Dave Brubeck alto saxophone

Standards written by Lee Konitz

TitleKeyFormGroove
Tautology F major ABCA · 32 Up-tempo swing
Subconscious Lee C major AABA · 32 Medium-up swing
Kary's Trance A minor AABA · 32 Medium-up swing
No Splice G minor AB · 32 Medium-up swing
Palo Alto F major ABA · 32 Up-tempo swing
Progression F major ABCA · 32 Up-tempo swing
Sound Lee E♭ major AB · 32 Medium-up swing

Analysed solos by Lee Konitz

Awards

Historic 78 rpm records

  • SUBCONCIOUS-LEE LENNIE TRISTANO QUINTET · LEE KONITZ · BILLY BAUER · SHELLY MANNE ·… · 1949 archive.org ↗
  • SUBCONCIOUS-LEE LENNIE TRISTANO QUINTET · Lee Konitz · Billy Bauer · Shelly Manne ·… · 1949 archive.org ↗
  • SUBCONCIOUS-LEE LENNIE TRISTANO QUINTET · Lee Konitz · Billy Bauer · Shelly Manne ·… · 1949 archive.org ↗

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument did Lee Konitz play?

Lee Konitz is known for playing alto saxophone and soprano saxophone.

When and where was Lee Konitz born?

Lee Konitz was born 13 October 1927 in Chicago.

What are Lee Konitz's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include The New Sounds (1951), Lee Konitz Plays With the Gerry Mulligan Quartet (1953), Originalee Konitz (1953), Konitz (1954) and Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh (1955).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.