Personal Recordings 1946-1970 by pianist, composer, and teacher Lennie Tristano is a 6 CD co-production of Mosaic Records and Dot Time Records. Assembled by Tristano’s daughter Carol Tristano and tenor saxophonist Lenny Popkin, this collection, virtually all previously unissued, is a fascinating tribute to one of the most controversial figures in modern jazz. (Two sextet pieces, recorded at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve, 1949, first appeared on an lp issued by the IAJRC.) While prominent musicians as disparate as Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, and Keith Jarrett have praised his work, Tristano never achieved the popularity or critical acclaim that his innovations should have garnered. While this set might help to rectify that attitude by compiling a variety of live material and sessions recorded at Tristano’s home and studio, his legacy probably would have been better served by a more critical producer who might have weeded out some of the more problematic recordings. As it is, the sound quality on disc one, taken from wire recordings between 1946 and 1948, is abysmal. While there’s some great playing in these trios with guitarist Billy Bauer and a variety of bassists, it’s so hard to hear that I can’t imagine revisiting these tracks very often. I think it would have been better to put these selections on the last disc of the set rather than at the beginning, and started the collection with the solo selections on disc two, most of which were reasonably well taped in 1961 at Tristano’s home studio in Queens. Sound quality is a vast improvement over the first disc, and fans of The New Tristano, his 1961 Atlantic album, will be happy to hear several variations of some of the tunes. We’re back to wire recordings for part of disc three, recorded at a club date in Manhattan in 1950. Things are a little murky, but saxophonists Lee Konitz, on alto, and Warne Marsh, on tenor, are in fine form and it’s nice to hear them at this formative stage in their careers. Marsh and Konitz are certainly the best known musicians associated with Tristano, and we’ll hear from them again in this compilation. The fourth disc in the set is devoted to trio sessions with Peter Ind on bass and either Tom Wayburn or Al Levitt on drums. The eleven pieces were recorded in the mid-Fifties at Tristano’s East 32nd Street studio. Highlights include the relaxed lope of Lennie’s Lines, the effervescent version of There Will Never Be Another You, and the effortless flow of Movin’ Along. Disc 5 is devoted to Tristano in duo and trio settings with bassist Sonny Dallas, who seemed to fit this music like he was born to it. To these ears, the six duets, recorded in the mid-Sixties in the same Midtown Manhattan studio, offer some of the best music in the collection. There’s a feeling of intense creativity at work as the musicians feed off one another’s ideas with playful empathy in the best jazz tradition. Drummer Nick Stabulas, who frequently worked alongside Dallas, appears on two tracks. He’s fairly subdued with brushwork on I Should Care, while his cymbal beat enlivens Lennie’s Groove. Our immersion in Tristano’s archives concludes on disc 6, split between a 1948 session with Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer, a 1962 club date at the Half Note with Dallas and Stabulas, and a single track with the trio joined by Konitz and Zoot Sims on tenor. The earlier pieces, in decent sound, are relatively brief and freely improvised. There are more than a few passages of serendipitous beauty in the 20 minutes presented here. The club material swings hard, and features the trio stretching out for any audience. The final track, a ten-minute excursion into How Deep is the Ocean with Konitz and Sims, is really special. While Konitz was always identified with Tristano, it’s both surprising and somehow gratifying to hear how the magnificent playing of Zoot Sims fits so well with Tristano’s conception of this Irving Berlin standard. Tristano was a frequently brilliant pianist, and his music is always worth exploring. So I heartily recommend this set, with the caveat that the first disc is very hard to listen to. Start with disc 2, and you’ll be amply rewarded.
Mosaic/Dot Time MD6-272; Lennie Tristano (p) on all selections. Disc 1 (59:33): Trio with Billy Bauer, Live Performances; Disc 2 (56:08): Solo Piano; Disc 3 (58:13): Sextet - Live Performances; Disc 4 (63:34): Trio Sessions; Disc 5 (57:46): Duos & Trios with Sonny Dallas; Disc 6 (61:42): 1948 Free Session & Live at the Half Note. For complete discographical information and ordering details, go here
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