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Track List

1 Line Up 03:33
    by Lennie Tristano
2 Requiem 04:52
    by Lennie Tristano
3 Turkish Mambo 03:30
    by Lennie Tristano
4 East Thirty-Second 04:33
    by Lennie Tristano
5 These Foolish Things 05:43
    by Jack Strachey, Holt Marvell (Boosey & Hawkes)
6 If I Had You 06:27
    by Jimmy Campbell, Reginald Connelly, Ted Shapiro (Francis-Day Publications)
7 I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You 06:04
    by Victor Young, Bing Crosby, Ned Washington (Chappell & Co. / Mills Music)
8 All the Things You Are 06:10
    by Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II (T.B. Harms Inc.)
9 Becoming 04:31
    by Lennie Tristano
10 C Minor Complex 05:41
    by Lennie Tristano
11 You Don't Know What Love Is 03:29
    by Gene de Paul, Don Raye (Leeds Music Corp.)
12 Deliberation 04:47
    by Lennie Tristano
13 Scene and Variations: Carol – Tania – Bud 11:48
    by Lennie Tristano
14 Love Lines 02:20
    by Lennie Tristano
15 G Minor Complex 03:49
    by Lennie Tristano

Total Time: 77:17

About Tristano

Lennie Tristano occupies a distinctive place in the history of modern jazz. A pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher, he developed a highly individual approach to improvisation during the 1940s and 1950s. His music drew on the harmonic and melodic developments of bebop while moving in a different direction, emphasizing long melodic lines, contrapuntal interaction, rhythmic independence, and an unusually close relationship between improvisation and composition.

The recordings here come from two important periods in Tristano's recorded work: the mid-1950s sessions that produced Line Up and related pieces, and the solo piano recordings that became The New Tristano.

Tristano was born in Chicago in 1919 and lost his sight during childhood. He studied music formally and developed a broad knowledge of classical music as well as jazz. After establishing himself in Chicago, he moved to New York, where he became closely involved with the musicians who were developing the new language of modern jazz. Among the musicians who studied with him were Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, whose later work became closely associated with the musical ideas of the so-called Tristano school.

Tristano's teaching and performing activities were closely connected. He encouraged musicians to develop their ear-training, their sense of harmonic structure, and their ability to create melodic lines independently of conventional rhythmic patterns. His approach often reduced the importance of the traditional piano left hand, allowing the right hand to develop extended lines influenced by the melodic language of the horn players around him.

The first part of this collection centres on the recordings made in Tristano's home studio in New York during 1954–1955. The session produced four particularly important recordings: “Line Up,” “Requiem,” “Turkish Mambo,” and “East Thirty-Second Street.” On Line Up, Tristano is joined by bassist Peter Ind and drummer Jeff Morton. Requiem is a solo piano performance, while Ind and Morton participate in the trio pieces. These recordings were issued by Atlantic Records on LP 1224 in 1956.

These recordings also demonstrate Tristano's interest in the possibilities of the recording studio. The performances were not simply conventional documentation of a live trio. Tristano used recording techniques to construct musical textures in ways that were unusual for jazz at the time. The result was music in which rhythm, harmony, and melodic lines could be treated with considerable freedom.

The album on Atlantic also included a second group of recordings made with the Lennie Tristano Quartet at the Sing-Song Room of the Confucius Restaurant in New York on June 11, 1955. These performances featured Tristano with Lee Konitz on alto saxophone, Gene Ramey on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. They provide a contrast with the more experimental home-studio material, placing Tristano in a live small-group setting.

The most radical departure from the conventional jazz recording format came with The New Tristano. Recorded as solo piano in Tristano's home studio in New York in 1960–1962, the album was issued by Atlantic Records as LP 1357 in February 1962. Its seven performances include “Becoming,” “C Minor Complex,” “You Don't Know What Love Is,” “Deliberation,” “Scene and Variations: Carol / Tania / Bud,” “Love Lines,” and “G Minor Complex," all reissued here.

Although The New Tristano was released in 1962, the recordings were made over a period rather than in a single documented session. JazzDisco places the home-studio recordings broadly in 1960–1962, while separate documentation identifies additional solo recordings from 1961 made in the same home-studio environment.

The album was also presented as a clear statement about Tristano's recording method. The original cover emphasized that the performances were unaccompanied piano solos, with no multitracking, overdubbing, or tape-speed manipulation. In this respect, The New Tristano stood apart from some of the studio experiments associated with the earlier Atlantic recordings.

The solo pieces demonstrate how far Tristano had developed his conception of improvisation. Without bass or drums, he created his own rhythmic and harmonic framework through the piano itself. The music often suggests several simultaneous lines, while the harmony remains present beneath continually developing melodic material. Works such as “C Minor Complex” and “G Minor Complex” show his use of extended improvisational structures, while “Becoming” and “Love Lines” reflect his continuing interest in melodic continuity.

Tristano's recorded output was relatively limited compared with that of many of his contemporaries. He devoted considerable time to teaching and was selective about recording. As a result, the recordings that do survive occupy a particular position in his career: they document both the ensemble experiments of the 1950s and the increasingly personal solo language of his later work.

Taken together, these recordings show two related aspects of Tristano's musical thinking. The mid-1950s material demonstrates his interest in contrapuntal improvisation, unusual rhythmic relationships, and the possibilities of studio construction. The New Tristano, recorded several years later, takes the same concerns into a completely solo setting. In both cases, the emphasis is on the continuous development of melodic ideas rather than on conventional accompaniment patterns.

Tristano died in New York in 1978. His influence continued through his students, through the recordings that circulated among musicians, and through the continuing study of his approach to improvisation. The musicians associated with him did not all develop in the same way, but the emphasis on hearing, linear improvisation, harmonic awareness, and rhythmic independence remained an identifiable part of their musical background.

EU Public Domain Notice
The historical sound recordings included in this release are in the public domain in the European Union. Blue Music Group has created a new digital restoration and mastering of these historical recordings. The digital restoration and mastering by Blue Music Group are protected by applicable copyright and related rights. Rights may differ in other territories, including the United States. This release is not intended for distribution in the United States.

Cover artwork: The original photographic image has been legally assessed as being in the public domain in the EU following the expiry of the applicable 50-year term under Section 49a. The image has been restored, enhanced and colorized by Blue Music Group. © Blue Music Group. All rights reserved.

Credits

Tracks 1-4
Lennie Tristano – piano
Peter Ind – bass
Jeff Morton – drums
Recorded: Lennie Tristano's home studio, New York, 1954–1955
Originally released: Atlantic Records LP 1224, 1956.

Tracks 5-8
Lennie Tristano Quartet – live recordings included on the original Atlantic album
Lennie Tristano – piano
Lee Konitz – alto saxophone
Gene Ramey – bass
Art Taylor – drums
Recorded: Sing-Song Room, Confucius Restaurant, New York, June 11, 1955.

Tracks 9-15
Lennie Tristano – solo piano
Recorded: Lennie Tristano's home studio, New York, 1960–1962
Originally released: Atlantic Records LP 1357, February 1962.