Lee Konitz & Warne Marsh – London Concert (Wave)

[The sorrowful news of Derek Bailey’s passing should alone warrant a platter by the plectrist holding this spot. Alas, I’m at my parents' place for the holidays and didn’t pack any of his catalog for the trip. Since I don’t feel comfortable attempting to do any album justice solely from memory, it’ll have to fall to someone else to handle the eulogistic duties elsewhere on-site & I sure hope someone does.]

Considering their common Tristanoite origins, clambakes between Konitz and Marsh were comparatively rare over the course of their careers. On occasions when their schedules did overlap the outcome was certain to yield memorable musical repartee and synergy. The mid-70s represents an especially prosperous time for recordings by the pair. This archival set released on Peter Ind’s Wave imprint dates from a stretch when several European tours were organized in succession. It’s basically a straight reissue of the original LP with no material added, but what’s here is relaxing and exhilarating in equal measure. Ind and drummer Al Levitt, mostly on brushes, cloak the horns in a transparent halo of supple, responsive rhythm, one that fits snugly, but never stifles or constricts. Proof of shared improvisatory bravado, the principals also repeatedly jettison the support for brief spells, braiding helium-light lines in acapella tandem on pieces like the jovial Bach fragment “Invention in a Minor.” The majority of other pieces resolve through lithe improvisations based on basic chord progressions of denuded standards like “It’s You or No One” and “All the Things You Are”- the general preferred diet of both saxophonists, Marsh’s palate in particular. Each man sits out on a tune apiece, leaving his colleague to coast and cavort in the company of the rhythm section alone. Konitz tackles “You Go to My Head,” his wistful gauzy tone voicing a lilting extemporization built on lucent legato phrases. Warne’s ingenious reading of “Easy Livin’,” rendered under similar conditions in a mere (4:24), arrives as a high point amongst already skyscraping peaks. Conventional wisdom argues the apogee of Konitz/Marsh encounters as being the now out of print 3-disc Storyville set preserving their meeting at Montmarte in 1975. I wouldn’t know as I haven’t heard it! So at the risk of revealing the true reasoning behind this ROW & in the spirit of St. Nick, is there anybody out there who might be able to help a fellow music maven out & burn them for me? I’ve got an extra copy of this disc that I’d be more than happy to offer up in exchange.