Lee Konitz
Alto Sax Solo on
Cherokee

About

Lee Konitz's three-chorus alto saxophone solo opens the improvisation on this live trio performance of Ray Noble's celebrated bebop proving ground. At 242 BPM over the 64-bar AABA form in B-flat, Konitz navigates Cherokee's demanding chord changes with the relaxed mastery of someone who had been interpreting this material for nearly five decades. His lines, characterized by long-breathed phrasing and subtle rhythmic displacement, demonstrate why he remained one of jazz's most original melodic thinkers throughout his career. The harmonically treacherous bridge, which cycles through key centers descending by whole steps, is handled with effortless authority.

Lee Konitz was 68 to 69 years old at the time.