Customer Reviews

Lennie Tristano / New Tristano

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are at all interested in the art of solo jazz piano you _must_ listen to this CD, which contains two Tristano albums, 'Lennie Tristano' (which also includes his trio), and 'The New Tristano' (which doesn't). The first of these albums features Tristano's revolutionary use of overdubbing, which led critics in the fifties to savage this album; many considered the technique as being somehow 'anti-jazz'. To answer these critcs/iques Tristano recorded 'The New Tristano' which used no overdubbing. Many people feel that this album is his masterwork. Here his improvisations have the intellectual rigour of the Bach preludes and fugues, while maintaining a strong swinging forward motion reminiscent of Art Tatum. Some of the best 'line playing' in jazz can be found here -- I love this album! The only reservation I have with this 'two for one' release is that the crown jewel of 'The New Tristano', 'C Minor Complex', is not included for lack of space. This is almost an insult to Tristano's memory, and at least a crying shame. This muck-up could be compared to leaving 'So What' off Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue'. For this reason I give this CD 4, not 5 (or 10 if I could) stars.

Lennie Tristano was a piano genius and also a master of arranging and making new and inspirational jazz music. The best example is here in this double package of his 2 most well-known jazz records: Lennie Tristano from 1955 and The New Tristano from 1962. The first contains the 4 masteful compositions Line Up, Requiem, Turkish Mambo and East Thirty-Second Street which is brilliant in its use of time changes, melody lines and atmosphere. Requiem is a great tribute to Charlie Parker who died the same year as this record was made. The rest of the record is 5 live recordings with Lee Konitz on tenor sax. Ghost of a chance is a very fine version. Lennie was a fan of the long, emotional improvisational line on the piano, and this is most evident in the solo record The New Tristano. This is a great piano classic with Lennie mixing in classical inspirations as well as bop, stride and whatever path his feelings lead him to in the creation of the music. My favourites here are Becoming, Love Lines and G Minor Complex. Absolutely essential jazz. Another record which is recommended is the hard-to-get Descent In the Maelstrom with the incredible title track.

Mixed in with many of the more well known jazz musicians were some wonderful musicians that other musicians knew and loved, but the general public knew little about. Unfortunately, Tristano was one of these. A brilliant composer and pianst, his body of music is often hard for the average listener to access, since it didn't always follow along "traditional" lines. I always thought of Tristano as the technically magnificent Monk, but that sells both musicians short. Tristano was his own man, and the music that poured out from him was challenging, but always brilliant. It is a crime against nature and Tristano that the recording company left "C Minor Complex" off of this CD, though. Obviously, whoever made this CD knew very little about the music.

All of the other reviewers are correct in describing Lennie as a sadly under-appreciated genius, and I have nothing to add concerning that issue. I will remark, however, that the five tunes in the middle of the record also feature some of Lee Konitz' best straight-ahead ballad playing that's recorded. His versions of "These Foolish Things" and "You Go To My Head" are among the most beautiful (and emotional!) I've ever heard, and merit a listen from anybody that thinks he is too dry and "cerebral." His tone may be dry, but (in this recording at least) his choice of notes all have purpose and feeling; and I guarantee that if given the proper concentration, they will move you to tears.

I don't know that I've heard a greater collection of jazz from this period. Whoever created " Turkish Mambo" alone deserves to be in some kind of musical hall of fame. If Beethoven was around at the time he may well have written something like this. And the piano playing is jazz of the highest order. Tristano was mainly a music teacher who neither recorded nor appeared in public all that often, but by existing evidence, it appears to have been quite an event when he did. The trio and quartet sides are very good and impressively improvised jazz. These sides, along with his legendary sextet recordings on Capitol are creations by a man ahead of his time.

I have to agree with all the other reviews. Tristano was such a great jazz piano, but he remains virtually unknown. Seeing him in person was a rare treat. Even then, the club was half empty. IT's a shame that he never got the recognition that Bruebeck got. Listening to his records give you some idea of what you've missed. Wish the recordings had been better, though.

What a curious CD this is. I purchased it because I had always heard of Tristano, that he was someone every jazz fan shold know of -- but tracking his sound down wasn't always so easy. This CD gives you two LPs put together, and there's a fascinating double-ness to it.

Tristano's solo pieces are impassioned, manic, anticipating Keith Jarrett and many others by a decade or more. Really, you listen to the cavalcade of notes pouring forth from the speaker and you think, 'How the heck can he play all that?'

Then there are the group sets, with Lee Konitz on sax, and these are so much more melodic, restful, relaxed...hard to believe the same pianist is at work on both styles. (The group sets were recorded live at a now-long-gone lounge, and you hear the tinkle of glasses in the background, something I always enjoy in live recordings, for some reason.)

Anyhow, this is well worth buying and listening to.

Immortalized in Jack Kerouac's On the Road, this CD features Lennie Tristano in a variety of settings. If Bill Evans is the most colorful piano player jazz has ever produced, then Tristano is certainly the most "black and white", as his playing focuses on technique and composition rather than feeling. This takes a little bit of getting used to, even if you're a jazz fan; his playing at first might seem a little clunky and off-kilter, but it defintiely uncovers new rewards with each listen. In my opinion the only drawback is the live recordings, which, despite the prescence of the excellent Lee Konitz, aren't quite as special as the rest.