Lennie Tristano: Personal Recordings 1946-70 captures a free-jazz pioneer

The late pianist Lennie Tristano’s vision of modern jazz stressed harmonic development and the ridges and contours of the improvised line. That those contours had jagged edges is confirmed throughout this fascinating six-CD set. Drawn from Tristano’s archive of rehearsal tapes, live recordings and studio dates, Personal Recordings 1946-70 shows that music often categorised as cool and austere burnt with a passionate inner fire.

The American recorded only a handful of studio albums while he was alive. A clutch of live recordings increased the number after his death in 1978, but since then he has become an underground presence whose significance has been downplayed.

Yet he remains an influential stylist with clearly defined ideas as to how jazz music should be played. He expanded modern jazz harmony and the use of dynamics for rhythmic effect. And although he believed solos were most effective with drums kept firmly in check — early recordings reduce the drummer’s role to that of timekeeper — the clarity and power of his improvised lines had tremendous force.

Tristano was also a passionate improviser. He is often credited as the first person to record and perform free jazz — the through-improvisations presented here from a home-recorded 1948 session and a club date the following year are the earliest recorded examples of the genre. Occasionally there’s an experimental feel, but mostly the drum-free quartet, featuring saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, play with a confidence that reflects their extensive experience performing free jazz in public. The two saxophonists are also featured on live sextet recordings dating from 1949 and 1950. Although the sound quality is poor, Konitz, in particular, is in biting form.

Tristano, though, is the focus, and his singular style is to the fore on the remaining four discs. The solo and duo performances, studio recorded and spread over two discs, capture the pianist’s lead-line magic unfolding over either walking double bass or his own compelling left-hand lines. The trio sessions round out the picture. Half are studio recorded, but even those recorded live with low-fi sound capture his harmonic adventure and rhythmic thrust. A compelling, if somewhat specialist, release.

★★★★☆

‘Lennie Tristano: Personal Recordings 1946-70’ is released by Mosaic/Dot Time