Lennie Tristano

This two-LP set reissues the complete contents of pianist Lennie Tristano's two Atlantic studio albums which were originally titled Lennie Tristano and The New Tristano. The first album was considered very controversial for on four selections Tristano overdubbed several pianos and altered the tape, speeding up and slowing down the individual tracks. The results are quite listenable but received a lot of negative comments at the time. The remainder of the first album matches Tristano with altoist Lee Konitz, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Art Taylor and, although more conventional, are quite individual; the quartet takes apart and evaluates five standards. The second album features Tristano's solo piano (without any overdubbing) in 1961, years after he had stopped performing regularly in public. He has rarely played better than on these originals, making this set quite essential for all serious jazz collections. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi