Quotes by Lee Konitz

About Lee Konitz:

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist who was born in Chicago, Illinois. He has performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings. Konitz was one of the few altoists to retain a distinctive sound when Charlie Parker exercised a tremendous influence on other players. Konitz, like other students of pianist and theoretician Lennie Tristano, was noted for improvising long, melodic lines with the rhythmic interest coming from odd accents, or odd note groupings suggestive of the imposition of one time signature over another. Paul Desmond and, especially, Art Pepper were strongly influenced by Konitz.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Benny Goodman was one of the big influences as a clarinet player. That's why I wanted the clarinet.

Lee Konitz

A lot of bands were doing remotes from ballrooms around the country.

Lee Konitz

I wish that person outside would stop coughing.

Lee Konitz

Names and theoretical things don't occur to me. If they do, I'm not doing my real playing mode.

Lee Konitz

I could stop and say, Well that was a D minor, G seven, but I really don't want to know that. I just want to know that there's a combination of notes that makes a sound.

Lee Konitz

In some ways Lester Young is the most complex rhythmically of any musician. He does some things which are just phenomenal.

Lee Konitz

I hear many extra-musical things somehow in Coltrane.

Lee Konitz

We all learn from each other, and I never really hung out with guys in that way, so I missed out.

Lee Konitz

Many people do think it's naive to improvise in front of paying customers. I'm not saying one way is better than another.

Lee Konitz

I'd like to feel that whatever I play is a result of whatever I've heard.

Lee Konitz

Bernstein grew up in my building in New York. He's a very, very fine player. When he was a kid, he came by to find out what was going on in the world of jazz.

Lee Konitz

Sound is the first thing that we tune into.

Lee Konitz

You just keep playing. If someone special comes along and organizes it in a new way, then you'll have another approach and everybody will jump on it to try to learn.

Lee Konitz

I always felt as a horn player, a jam session wasn't satisfying enough for me. I should have been a rhythm section player, actually.

Lee Konitz

I have been able to get a small audience. It's not the huge audience, but it's enough to make it possible to play. I appreciate that.

Lee Konitz

Labels don't mean anything to me. I'm trying to play as passionately as I'm able to. If they want to call that cool, that's fine. Just spell the name right, is the formula.

Lee Konitz

I just completed a tour in Europe. I played every night. This requires traveling some days for six hours in a van or a train or a car. After six weeks of that, I checked into the hotel and just fell apart.

Lee Konitz

Out of Coltrane's whole history, there are things which I think are great from all the periods.

Lee Konitz

A first love always occupies a special place.

Lee Konitz

I love Indian music very much, but I haven't studied that specifically.

Lee Konitz

Author Bio

  • NameLee Konitz
  • DescriptionAmerican jazz musician and composer
  • BornOctober 13, 1927
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionComposer; Saxophonist; Jazz Musician