Lennie Tristano - A School Onto Himself

Blind from birth, he received his earliest training from his mother and later at a school for the visually handicapped. His formal education was received from the American Conservatory in Chicago focusing on theory and performance in piano and woodwinds. In 1945 he began teaching privately in Chicago and attracted his two greatest disciples, Lee Konitz alto saxophonist and Billy Bauer guitarist. 

The following year a move to New York brought him critical fame and respect of fellow musicians being voted "Musician of the Year" by Metronome magazine and performing with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He continued teaching privately and in 1948 formed the now classic sextet with former students Bauer and Konitz and new student Warne Marsh on tenor. Tristano stressed the integrity of the melodic structure of the solo rather than on emotive dynamics and his compositions contain interesting melodic statements often with a divergent accompaniment. This band's quiet but uniquely complex sound was a great influence on the cool movement to follow. 

Tristano founded his own school in 1951 using some of his older students as teachers. He also became more reclusive performing much less. However there are a few group and solo recordings from this period that document Tristano's developments, some done by students and not released until the 1970's. (Look for "Wow" on the Jazz Records label) We can hear Tristano's elongated melodic ideas and endless phrases over his steady walking left hand. The sometimes double time passages are always interesting and unique with a surprising turn of notes. The tune "Ju-Ju" showcases some of Tristano's pioneering overdubbing techniques and has multiple tracks of piano, some chordal, some bass lines and several of improvised melody. Though this may seem academic in practice the result is often very intriguing and beautiful, though sometimes heavy. On "Descent into the Maelstrom" his playing turns to intense free improvisation that sounds more like the European classical experimentatists. 

However he is a jazz pianist and we can also hear many fine treatments of jazz standards using his individual approach. The Rhino double re-release of "Lennie Tristano" and "The New Lennie Tristano" (1955 and 1960 respectively) is generally more available and contains both his renditions of standard tunes as well as his free piano improve. Along with the strident melodic abilities we also find in Tristano's playing a complex harmonic sense. Arrangements often contain several dissonant block chords resolving beautifully into each other. And we are given another exercise in multi-track recording in the selection "Turkish Mambo." 

Tristano's influence can be heard in the long career of his closest pupil, Lee Konitz as well as with others such as Bill Evans, Bud Freedman and Art Pepper (the latter two being pupils themselves.) His experiments in collective improvisation also pointed the way to the free jazz movement. Though recordings maybe hard to find, they are essential in understanding the part that Lennie Tristano played in the development of modern jazz and are worthy of the search. One can only appreciate the experience that this thoughtful experimentalist and educator renders.