1959 · Album
Very Cool + Tranquillity
Recorded 1959 · Atlantic Records · Produced by Not definitively documented
Konitz in Quiet: Two Sides of Cool
Two albums that show Konitz comfortable in his own space, playing it his way.
Lee Konitz was never the kind of saxophonist who needed to prove anything. By the time these sessions came around, he'd already worked with Miles Davis, Lennie Tristano, and figured out his own sound—angular, conversational, deliberately unflashy. Very Cool and Tranquillity are companion pieces in the best sense: they show him in two different moods but using the same basic toolkit.
Very Cool finds Konitz in a lighter frame of mind, the kind of date where nothing has to be heavy. The writing is spare, the rhythm section gives him room to breathe, and he plays with the kind of dry wit that only comes from total confidence. He's not trying to swing you over the head; he's inviting you into something smaller and more specific. Tranquillity, as the title suggests, goes quieter still. These are ballad-oriented sessions where every note matters because there are fewer of them. Konitz's tone gets its best showcase here—thin but intelligent, never sentimental even when the tunes might allow it.
This pair works best for listeners already comfortable with Konitz's approach. They're not entry points if you've never heard him; start with something more obviously engaging. But if you know his work and want to hear him in relaxed, unfussy form—just playing standards and originals with good musicians, no ego—these are the records. They're solid, sometimes quite lovely, and they sit firmly in his catalog as examples of a player who knew exactly what he wanted to do and saw no reason to oversell it.
Where next?
More by Lee Konitz
All 15 albums →
