The song, like many Tristano ‘originals’ is a reworking of a standard, this time ‘Out Of Nowhere’. On this version of ‘317 East 32 nd’,Konitz (alto sax) plays the first solo, Tristano (piano) the second, Marsh (tenor sax) the third. Two great saxophonists were his best-known disciples, Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, both of whom we’ve written about at length. Irascible, perhaps, but Tristano left a legacy. And I asked him, ‘But what did you do to get that guy so hurt and angry?” I’m glad you can’t see!’…I knew Lennie I knew how destructive he could be. ‘Yes,’ Lennie said, ‘I can’t see anything.’…’Good,’ said Woody. He asked Tristano if he were really blind. Mingus is the source of another famous tale about how dislikable Tristano could be: “Woody Herman, who’s supposed to be a very nice guy and a funny one, came over to Lennie. That’s the great Kenny Clarke tapping on the phonebook!
![mechanical metronome mechanical metronome](https://www.blackdogmusic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/big_images/01/1392908261WEB-Purple.jpg)
One Sunday Bird drove out to Tristano’s house on Long Island, where they recorded two cuts – ‘ All of Me’ and ‘ I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me’. But Bird and Tristano had great respect for each other. He trained his students to take responsibility for every single note. Where Bird was the ultimate pour-it-out faster-than-the-ear-can-hear no-holds-barred improviser, Tristano was a proponent of strict discipline. Tristano is often presented as the antithesis of the great Charlie Parker. Mingus said, “Indiviuals can swing alone like Bird, and groups can swing collectively like Tristano’s”.
#MECHANICAL METRONOME FREE#
they approved of such consciously articulated developments as that of emasculating the rhythm section in order to free the front line. He would have felt very much at home, I think.įrom left: Max Kaminsky, Lester Young, Hot Lips Page, Charlie Parker, Lennie TristanoĮunmi Shim wrote in her musical biography of Tristano: Mingus and Max Roach were quite enamoured of Tristano’s approach, which restricted the rhythmic contribution of bass and drums quite severely.
![mechanical metronome mechanical metronome](https://www.bazaargadgets.com/image/catalog/products/toysandhobbies/musicalinstruments/VintageAntiqueMechanicalMetronomeTempoBeatTimerForSethThomas-SKUspanitemprop150082-descriptionImage1.jpg)
It’s a shame Tristano never invited Einstein to sit in on violin. You can count tick-tick-tick without problems, but try one-two-three-four and at some point you’ll find yourself in a world of temporal relativity. Because on top of that pulse, he would reorganize the bar, displace the metric system, create a disjointed and constantly surprising world. Remarkably, such creative musicians as bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach were Tristano supporters. I can’t improve on what I said there: Tristano forced his rhythm section to serve as a metronome, providing a regular, mechanical pulse. Way back in SoTW 027 I wrote about Tristano and an even more obscure cut, ‘Wow’ live from 1949. Like watching mathematical patterns unfold. Not many people ‘get’ his music, because there’s nothing to ‘get’. Lennie Tristano (1919–78) is no household name, and I understand why. It’s beyond what one Danish prince called ‘the whips and scorns of time’. It never gets bogged down in the messiness of human intercourse. It’s like watching an imagined river, a mental act of divine creation. Lennie Tristano’s music never fails to transport me. One cut I’d surely like to spend the rest of my life with is ‘ 317 East 32 nd’ by the Lennie Tristano quintet from their album “Live in Toronto 1952”. What do I do about The Beatles? I rarely actually bother to play their music anymore – I just press a button in my cerebral jukebox and let it run through my synapses. The second would include the Renaissance liturgical music I listen to as background music to sleep on the train, but I’m guessing I wouldn’t have that issue on a desert island. The first would include “John Wesley Harding”, for example, which I esteem greatly but listen to rarely. My conundrum would be of a different sort – to go for the music I most esteem, or that which I listen to most, or that which I most enjoy. Music’s too important to confuse it with life. Some people might choose music they associate with landmark events in their lives.
![mechanical metronome mechanical metronome](https://golodoor.guphotos.com/i/w?u=/images/I/7/I4607/I4607-1-97ec-Uvya.jpg)
We arrested-adolescence baby boomers (see “ High Fidelity” et al) take the Desert Island issue seriously.