Lee Konitz
Alto Sax Solo on
What Is This Thing Called Love

About

Lee Konitz's four-chorus alto saxophone solo opens the improvisation on this live trio performance of the Cole Porter standard, recorded at Birdland. Over the 32-bar AABA form at 173 BPM in C, Konitz's improvisation unfolds with the patient, exploratory quality that defined his approach to the Tristano school of jazz, where melody is discovered through deep listening and real-time invention rather than reliance on preconceived patterns. Four choruses give him ample room to develop ideas with the kind of long-form narrative arc that characterized his most searching performances.

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