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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alto Sax recorded masterwork of the 20th century, February 6, 2000
This review is from: Motion (Audio CD)
A few years ago I was listening to the Verve Story 1944-1994, a 4CD compilation which is a pretty good retrospective. Everything was going along very nicely thankyou - the usual suspects were grooving high, Getz and Gillespie, Parker and Powell, Hawkins and Haden, then BAM! I dropped everything, hit the repeat button and raised the volume - I was listening to Lee Konitz (alto) Sonny Dallas (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums)and they were doing all sorts of things to Johnny Mercer's I Remember You. It was like being struck by an unknown force. This music stood out among the greatest jazz artists of the century. It was remarkable. Clearly it was related in style to the Lennie Tristano of Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano (Rhino R2 71595) on which Mr Konitz appears. Mr Tristano's method was to have the bass and drums establish a simple but persistent and unintrusive pulse over which he would improvise harmonic, melodic and rhythmic variations. On the original MOTION this pulse was provided by Mr Sonny Dallas on bass, but the drumming is another matter which I'll return to. If Mr Rollins was the master on tenor of the trio format, then Mr Konitz is so on the alto. I consider this reissue of MOTION, which adds two previously unissued CD's to the original album, a 20th century masterwork, among the very best documentation of the alto sax in jazz. Who would think a skinny bespectacled white dude of 33 years of age and the most renowned drummer in jazz at the time whose night job was with Mr Coltrane and his Quartet at the Village Vanguard, could speak with such magic to each other? The musical conversation they had goes beyond music; perhaps because of their mutual respect, or the freedom the producer Creed Taylor allowed them. In any case, the rest of the sessions where Mr Nick Stabulas takes over the drummer's chair are also top class, and a wonderful listening experience. All the tunes are standards but the feeling, inventiveness and swing provided by these musicians makes one feel the composers would be grateful that their works were chosen as vehicles for exploration. This reissue is a valuable document of a great meeting of some master musicians.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Konitz at his finest, August 31, 2004
This is a classic example of Lee Konitz's approach to improvisation--extremely long, fluid lines, with a keen, insightful, relaxed feeling throughout. Elvin Jones, capable of matching his style to almost any context, is less explosive than you'd expect him to be, but you still hear him weaving over and around and behind the beat at times. It's interesting to compare this album to Sonny Rollins' classic 1958 Vanguard recording, also with just Jones and a bassist--we don't usually think of Rollins and Konitz as occupying the same territory, but these two CD's sound eerily similar at times.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
unusual line up, great record, June 15, 2000
This review is from: Motion (Audio CD)
Pairing Lee Konitz and Elvin Jones seems like a strange idea, especially considering the different directions they were heading in jazz at the time of this recording, but it works. Konitz seems to be so concerned with improvisation on this session that he can't be bothered with even playing the heads; I dare you to figure out what some of these songs are without looking at the case. "Motion" is the perfect name for this record, since Jones keeps the music moving with his skittering drum work and Dallas comes along with the ride (he's the one here that seems most concerned with following the standard changes, and keeps the whole thing from getting too out of hand). This record would be difficult to listen to in one sitting, (three CDs) but is consistently enjoyable, even with multiple aternate takes.
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