Lee Konitz, the celebrated jazz saxophonist and last surviving performer in Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” sessions, died Wednesday (April 15) due to complications with COVID-19.
He was 92. Born 1927 in Chicago, Konitz studied clarinet early on, then switched to alto, an instrument he mastered like no other.
Konitz enjoyed stints with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra and Stan Kenton’s Orchestra, worked with pianist Lennie Tristano, Stan Kenton, Warne Marsh, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Bill Evans.
And he played with Davis’ nonet on their “Birth of the Cool” Capitol recordings, a landmark in post-bebop jazz. The “cool-toned” artist, reads his Blue Note biog, “always had a strong musical curiosity that has led him to consistently take
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