This is Konitz with pianist Florian Weber, bassist Jeff Denson, and drummer Ziv Ravitz on a six-song set recorded at what many feel is the greatest jazz club in the world, the Vanguard in New York city. Konitz hadn’t played at the Vanguard in 26 years.
Recorded in the spring of 2009 on the last day of March and the first day of April, a year before the soon-to-be-released Live in London Volume 1 it's not the quartet’s first recording. Cologne pianist Weber, US bassist Denson, who is in the trio Minsarah with Weber and the Israeli Ravitz, producer Matthias Winckelmann in the notes explains, had worked in Europe with Konitz, as “the New Lee Konitz Quartet” and the quartet recorded Deep Lee released five years ago, recorded just before Konitz’s 80th birthday. The sister release to Standards Live is 2010’s New Quartet release Live at the Village Vanguard.
The sound quality here is very lovely: there is no live-album harshness, the audience applause sounds natural, and the piano sound has no brittleness at all, and the drums nicely damped down. Opening with Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s ‘The Song Is You’ Weber holds the chords out in support behind Konitz to let the song float on and Ravitz guides the band along, and you can also hear the bass’ little insistencies and bright tonal colour. Konitz’s opening to ‘Skylark’ draws out that poignancy you’ll often hear on Konitz ballad interpretations, the tune never sounding as familiar as it should. Brubeck’s ‘In Your Own Sweet Way’ is the darkest of the material covered, Weber’s accompaniment noticeably more detailed and mathematical, while ‘Just Friends’ is more minimalist and there’s a bit of humour at the end (you’d swear Konitz is quoting a little bit of ‘Jingle Bells’ as a coda, prompting laughter). Denson opens ‘Stella By Starlight’ drawing on the melody of Rodrigo’s Concierto de aranjuez a little before peeling away. The album closes with Cole Porter’s ‘I Love You’, Konitz’s fractured and intense opening solo a moment to savour. A must for Konitz fans, and if you have the earlier New Quartet record in your collection then you’ll need this. SG
Released on 5 May