Home » Jazz Articles » Extended Analysis » Lee Konitz: Live in Schauburg, Bremen, Germany, 1983
Lee Konitz: Live in Schauburg, Bremen, Germany, 1983
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993
Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals1901 - 1971
Earl Hines
piano1903 - 1983
Al Cohn
saxophone, tenor1925 - 1988
Zoot Sims
saxophone, tenor1925 - 1985
Art Pepper
saxophone, alto1925 - 1982
George Cables
pianob.1944
Kenny Barron
pianob.1943
Stan Getz
saxophone, tenor1927 - 1991
Another profound musical partnership is the collaboration between pianist
Harold Danko
pianob.1947
Lee Konitz
saxophone, alto1927 - 2020
Claude Thornhill
vocals1909 - 1965
Warne Marsh
saxophone, tenor1927 - 1987
Wayne Shorter
saxophone1933 - 2023
Danko would experience Konitz' cutting edge approach to music up close. He had the pleasure of working with him as they teamed up to develop their music: "We worked together for more than fifteen years in various formations from duo to nonet. I was happy to be a part of his world and proud that I was able to influence him in forming a band, be it a duo or quartet. Lee's wife, Tavia, became a good friend and tried to keep us working. Sometimes she would have to book Lee as a solo act to pick up musicians in his travels as he had always done, but she was determined to book the duo or quartet as much as possible. We did tours in the UK with duo and quartet in '84, and duo in Singapore and India in '86, plus quartet dates in Senegal ('80), Italy, Germany, France, and Japan ('84-'85). With bandmates
Al Harewood
drums1923 - 2014
Rufus Reid
bass, acousticb.1944
Reggie Johnson
bass, acousticb.1940
Marc Johnson
bassb.1953
The beginning of their musical relationship stretches back to the early '70s, as Danko tells: "I met Lee for the first time at the woodwind repair shop of Saul Fromkin, where I was working, maybe in 1973 or '74. I met him again soon after that in Central Park where we were walking our dogs. The fact that we lived close to each other on the upper west side and that Stryker's Pub was on West 86th Street across the street from Lee's apartment made it convenient to try playing together. I think at first it might have been at Stryker's in trio with bassist Dave Shapiro. I was also playing there with
Chet Baker
trumpet and vocals1929 - 1988
Perhaps the finest distillation of the collaboration between Konitz and Danko is the work they did as a duo. This concert recording from 1983 that captures them at Schauburg, Bremen is the proof. The concert was part of a tour in Germany and at that point: "we were working on a repertoire that would identify our duo as a band."
The concert in Bremen includes a balanced program of standards, bop classics penned by Charlie Parker and original compositions, and this sense of balance was typical of the duo: "We would always plan a set beforehand but sometimes vary it, trying to sense the audience and get the pacing right. I still have some lists of our sets and it is very apparent that we were always going for some variety within them, especially in the duo format."
Besides considering the program of the concert carefully, they also talked about the tunes and did rehearsals: "We spoke mainly about the technical specifics of the tunes we were doing, related to my concern with how to take on my role as both a kind of instant arranger as well as a soloist. I was very mindful of the brilliant and original lines Lee would play and a bit self-conscious of my own linear playing. Lee would always want to rehearse at very slow tempos and was insistent that we improvise at all times and also play lines in counterpoint, always starting simply and listening intently."
Danko elaborates further on how he tried to approach his role in the duo: "My priority in the duo setting was to try to orchestrate things, starting with the presentation of the themes, experimenting with different "settings" of the melodies and then extending that idea to the improvisations. The video documentary Portrait of the Artist as Saxophonist that we did in Canada, in '87 I think, gets an accurate picture of our partnership.
While it's possible to see a pattern in the way the duo approached their concerts, in hindsight there was something about the concert in Bremen that stood out—an amazing piano: "I am pretty certain that the venue (along with the beautiful Bechstein piano) was the same one where
Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945
Indeed, there was a special energy and ambiance that night which is documented on the recording and the passage of time has sharpened Danko's awareness of this particular musical moment: "At my current age it is strange to think that Lee was in his mid fifties when we recorded this concert and that I started playing with him when I was still in my twenties and he just in his late forties. I think this concert catches us at some point of our collective peak although at the time I don't think we regarded it as particularly outstanding, that being the reality of performing the same repertoire over many nights in front of attentive audiences—something I have really missed since those "road" days.
Like so many other musical enterprises, the story of this duo also had to dissolve. It's something that Danko thinks of with a bittersweet feeling: "I have often wondered why it did not continue for us but have come to accept that after Tavia's passing, Lee needed some changes in his life and without her handling all the business it was much easier for him to take gigs as a solo act once again. I also respect his desire to play and interact with different musicians, always looking to the future."
To this day, Danko still marvels at the sound of his departed friend and musical partner: "Lee's sound is distintively his own, full and beautiful from the bottom to the top of the horn. His rhythmic sense is fluid and strong, unique to him." With Lee Konitz sadly no longer here, the possibility of a reunion of this duo is impossible, but as Danko sums it up succinctly: "It was a wonderful time and has now become precious to me in the best sense."
Track notes by Harold Danko
Hairy Canary and Duende (Corea)
"Hairy Canary" is a piece that Chick may have written for Lee. It was not particularly a comfortable tune for me since I did not want to imitate Chick, and never did hear him play it. Since it is a twelve bar blues and sounds a bit Monk-ish, I treated it in an almost stride, maybe even more
Erroll Garner
piano1921 - 1977
Star Eyes
I think "Star Eyes" is pretty rhapsodic on the whole for both of us, and as I was relaxing into the expansive piano sound and "finding my fingers" I became bold enough to commandeer the first solo.What Is This Thing Called Love/Hot House/Subconscious Lee
The "Hot House" medley gives us a chance to investigate the evolution of how the tunes emerged. We had been doing it this way for some time and it was always an enjoyable trip for me.Mirth Song (Danko)
The sound of the piano was inspiring and on "Mirth Song" I found some things I have never played before or since. I don't remember many instances where he gave me a solo tune, but I was happy to play "Mirth Song," which was the title tune of my SunnySide duo record with Rufus Reid.Hi Beck (Konitz, arr. Danko)
I played the 'music box' effect throughout "Hi Beck" because the piano's upper register was so rich. I think Lee starts to hum the pedal tone instead of playing at some point, maybe because I was humming(?). He would sometimes suggest to me to try to control my grunting or humming, and this may have been a subtle reprimand.Body and Soul
Lee is really bluesy and I am somewhat rhapsodic on this. Lee's entire performance and cadenza on "Body and Soul" is truly transformative—his ideas are totally his own but from the jazz tradition which he helped to alter.Anthropology/Moose the Mooche (Parker)
Lee utilized Parker as a way of 'preparation' much as I feel
Bill Evans
piano1929 - 1980
Bud Powell
piano1924 - 1966
Recording
Listen. Recorded by Nordwestradio in Schauburg, Bremen, Germany, October 15, 1983. ">Track Listing
Hairy Canary; Star Eyes; What Is This Thing Called Love/Hot House/Subconscious Lee; Duende; Mirth Song -piano solo; Body and Soul; Hi Beck; Anthropology/Moose the Mooche.
Personnel
Lee Konitz
saxophone, alto
Harold Danko
pianoAlbum information
Title: Live in Schauburg, Bremen, Germany, 1983 | Year Released: 1983 | Record Label: Self Produced
Tags
Liner Notes
Lee Konitz
Jakob Baekgaard
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillispie
Louis Armstrong
Earl Hines
Al Cohn
Zoot Sims
Art Pepper
George Cables
Kenny Barron
Stan Getz
Harold Danko
Claude Thornhill
Warne Marsh
Al Harewood on drums and bassists {{Lyle Atkinson
Rufus Reid
Reggie Johnson
Marc Johnson
Dave Shapiro
Chet Baker
Keith Jarrett
Erroll Garner
Bill Evans
Bud Powel
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