Covid Killed Lee Konitz (Music Notes)

Little Richard, 1932–2020: Richard Wayne Penniman, much better known as Little Richard, died yesterday of stomach cancer.

Little Richard was an inaugural inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony he was called a "living embodiment of the music's roots in the 'fifties." Paul McCartney patterned his rock vocal style after Little Richard's. Mick Jagger said, "when we were on tour with him I would watch his moves every night and learn from him how to entertain and involve the audience, and he was always so generous with advice to me." Jimi Hendrix, who played in Little Richard's band The Upsetters when he was young, once said, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

The photo Mick Jagger posted on his Twitter feed yesterday

Terence McArdle, writing in The Washington Post, said, "He had an incalculable influence on the frenetic attitude of rock music, long after his heyday and his extended forays into religious music. He saw his sound and its feeling of howling abandon as rock incarnate. As he often said, 'My music made your liver quiver, your bladder splatter, your knees freeze—and your big toe shoot right up in your boot!'"

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz 1927–2020: Alto saxophonist and jazz great Lee Konitz won't see Summer. He died in the middle of April from pneumonia as a complication of COVID-19.

He was important from the 1950s on and has a huge discography, but if you'd like a taste, try the live trio records he did with the young Brad Meldau and Charlie Haden in '96 and '97, such as Another Shade of Blue and, especially, Alone Together, his first album for the famous Blue Note label, recorded live at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles in 1996. Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic wrote, "Alone Together, Lee Konitz's first recording for Blue Note, is a special event. The saxophonist teamed up with legendary bassist Charlie Haden and young lion pianist Brad Mehldau, and the trio's interaction on this set of relaxed bop is astonishing. On paper, the music on Alone Together—a collection of standards—should just be straightahead cool bop, but all three musicians are restless and inventive, making even the simplest numbers on the disc vibrant, lively and adventurous.

"It's a wonderful record, one that makes a convincing argument that Konitz remains a vital force even as he reached his seventieth year."

Here's the first cut from that record. R.I.P. Lee.

Mike

P.S. If you've ever wondered why jazz sounds the way it does, and why some of it might be hard for you to listen to, I recommend "The 7 Levels of Jazz Harmony" from Adam Neely. And I'll just point out that it can be hard to hear above your level. —Mike, mainly a poblano pepper dude

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

James: "Whilst living in England in the '70s, I saw Little Richard at the Odeon Lewisham. He was absolutely fantastic! After the opening song ended and he started talking to the audience, guys were shouting out...'we can't hear the piano, we can't hear the piano.' He stopped the show, made all the backing musicians turn down their egos (sorry, I mean amplifiers), and played up a storm for the rest of the evening."

Comments

[Kye Wood]

You locked yesterdays comments. No. Not GoPro.

If you want to have your mind blown, look at Lenovo Mirage. You take a photo, or video, in 180 degree, dual 4K, 3D virtual reality.

Viewing these (using a simple Google Cardboard box) over your mobile phone is like playing rewind with your mind. Cinéma vérité. You ARE there.

Currently under $100 USD on amazon.com.au. Yes, one hundred dollars, brand new.

[William Lewis]

Level 4, thank you very much. Giant steps. A Love Supreme. Kind of Blue. I'm so white bread...

[Paul McEvoy]

Very sad about Lee Konitz. I confess I haven't listened to him as much as I would like but he's on The Birth Of The Cool sounding amazing and that would be enough.

Ethan Iverson has some great articles about and with Lee Konitz. This one is my favorite and has actually changed me as a musician a little bit.

https://ethaniverson.com/rhythm-and-blues/18-with-lee-k/

[Jim Arthur]

I don't understand anything this guys saying but levels 2 (2:08) and 7 (8:58) sound almost the same to me. I like both. An occasional dash of habenero would be nice too.

[sebastian]

thanks for pointing out "alone together". very delicious indeed.

cheers,
sebastian

[Tex Andrews]

Saw that Konitz had died a few weeks ago. Really long, distinguished career, and there's a good sampling on Spotify. I had him on a terrific album I had back in high school in the '70's (recorded in '68), "Alto Summit, with Pony Pindexter, Phil Woods and Leo Wright.

We've lost a bunch of jazz greats in this period.

[Ken James]

So sad he had to die, especially of the virus. I played alto when young, professionally even for a while. My life might have been totally different if I had heard Lee Konitz play back then. Never heard him. Loved the sample you shared. Sad I never heard him. I will hear a lot of him now.

[steve]

This is a really great recording Lee Konitz recording:

https://amzn.to/3byYWfq

[An original vintage vinyl copy of that is one of the few genuine treasures in my record collection. Great record. --Mike]

[JimK]

That's an awesome tutorial (7 Levels of Jazz). Next time I'm singing in choir, I'll just point out that I'm doing 'non-functional harmony...'

Thanks Mike!

[Simon]

When the scribe at T.O.P. writes about music it is invariably the most lovely thing I will read that day. Thank you.

:-)

[k4kafka]

It's amazing to know how many great jazz musicians couldn't read music, let alone navigate through a course in music theory...geeeeez

[DON SEYMOUR]

Have you seen this? Thinking that you would have something to say about the photographer/audiophile connection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe5FP8k7nxU

[That kind of illustrates why I don't like videos. First of all I had to speed it up to 1.5X to make Dave sound normal speed, while Steve was talking like a chipmunk. Meanwhile, they spent 20 minutes saying things they really could have written down in 10 paragraphs, and which I could have read in 90 seconds. I don't know, maybe I'm just used to taking in information in written form, and more comfortable with it. Thanks though--I did watch it. --Mike]

[John Camp]

"The Seven Levels of Jazz Harmony" is what happens when intellectualization overrides feeling. Same thing happened to classical in the late 19th Century, and to rock in the 1980s and 1990s. Same thing happened to visual art around the turn of the 20th Century.

Here's John's basic insight on music: "If women can't dance to it, it sucks."

[John Csmp]

Completely off-topic and with nothing to do with this post except that it involves music: I'm sitting at my computer and in the background my wife is listening to an enormously long Bruce Springsteen movie/video and I can hear violins and cellos, and was struck by the sudden realization that Springsteen is the Lawrence Welk of the rock generation. All he needs is a bubble machine.

[James Weekes]

I had a brilliant friend at my local bookshop/record store. When I expressed an interest in jazz, he pulled out 5 records and gave them to me and told me to go home and listen to them all for a while, then come in and give him my impressions. From those he sold me two of them and three new ones that fit my taste. From there he guided me through the music until I could choose my own. Thank you Hoon.