Pioneering reedsman performs at Turku’s Sigyn Hall on Wednesday 30 November and Helsinki’s Koko Jazz Club on Thursday 1 December.
More international stars to join the line-ups of Turku-based Flame Jazz concert series and Helsinki’s Koko Jazz Club! And we are not talking about any upstart but the legendary Lee Konitz – an 89-year-old veteran who has witnessed the history of jazz from the bebop era to today first hand. When Charlie Parker led the revolution of African-American music in the 1940s, Konitz was already taking the language of jazz to a different direction. A close collaborator of pianist Lenny Tristano’s, Konitz introduced pioneering rhythmic and melodic innovations and was also a key name of the 1950s cool jazz. Indeed, he also appears on the defining classic of cool jazz, Miles Davis’s Birth of the Cool.
Bassist Jeff Denson first started collaborating with Konitz in 2007 and today he also plays in the ranks of the veteran’s New Quartet. A Professor at California Jazz Conservatory, Denson has performed alongside a number of monumental names of jazz, including Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas. Finn Kari Ikonen will be joining the trio for both shows on the piano.
Jeff Denson Trio & Lee Konitz (USA)
Lee Konitz – alto sax, vocals
Jeff Denson – bass, vocals
Kari Ikonen – piano
Ronen Itzik – drums
Wed 30 Nov at 19.00 Sigyn-sali, Linnankatu 60, Turku
Tickets 30 / 25 / 27 €
Thu 1 Dec at 19.00 Koko Jazz Club, Hämeentie 3, Helsinki
Tickets 35 / 30 €