1st December 2014: ‘First Meeting – Live in London, Volume 1’, brings more great reviews from Jazz Journal, Jazz Times, Musikheaven and more for Lee Konitz, Dan Tepfer, Michael Janisch and Jeff Williams.

Konitz is “one of the most consistently brilliant, adventurous and original improvisers in the jazz tradition” (John Zorn). His recorded legacy is massive and uniquely influential, stretching back to his recordings in the late 1940s with the Claude Thornhill Band, Lennie Tristano and Miles Davis, and his debut as leader in 1949.
First Meeting: Live in London, Volume 1, made six decades after those first outings, still portrays a great master with the determination and the means to continue to explore and to break new ground. Although the four individual co-leaders of this collaborative album, Konitz, bassist Michael Janisch, pianist Dan Tepfer and drummer Jeff Williams, have a web of cross-connections going back in some cases several decades, this is their first appearance on the same stage as a quartet. Konitz’s recordings in London are rarities; just a handful of dates from the 1970s and 1980s exist along with a recent date with the great bassist Peter Ind. It is also a very rare outing for Lee Konitz on soprano saxophone, which he plays on three tracks here.

Here are some of the highlights from the latest reviews in from the European music press:

“Here are four freedom-bound explorers, meeting and melding yet compromising neither their identity nor their independence, creating music that both manifests and transcends their individual gifts.”
Jazz Times Magazine (Full Review)

“What the indestructible Lee Konitz – who played in the late 1940s with Miles Davis – elicits here with his saxophones is incredible… Jeff Williams (drums), Michael Janisch (bass) and Dan Tepfer (piano) create a fine foundation for the so intense and always refreshingly unassuming excursions of the aged master.”
Sol (DE)

“The 82-year-old jazz legend Lee Konitz’s playing still has its appeal, no question.”
Skug (Austria)

“Konitz is exceptionally influential, and on First Meeting he still portrays himself as a master with all the intensity and determination to continue to explore and conquer new ground in jazz.”
Rhein Main Magazine

“The results are moments of close connection; the master Konitz displaying the art of improvisation.”
Sound & Image

“At the age of 82 years, Konitz displays his highly original type of improvisation and proves it has deepened and developed over the years.”
CD Aktuell

“An album full of freshness & vitality… the four musicians act quite obviously on the same wavelength and exhibit both musicality and technically to the highest standards… inspired music and an exciting listening experience.”
Musik an Sich (DE)

“Epic”
Musikheaven (DE) (Full Review)

“A thrilling concert recording with an amazingly well-attuned and yet daring quartet line up and any repeat recording is wholly necessary.”
Musik Reviews (DE) (Full Review)

“A lesson in timeless jazz improvisation.”
Leipziger Volkszeitung

“Stunning… Konitz still plays on that lonely level and pretends to be neither a star nor a living legend, he makes old songs sound fresh and devoid of routine interpretation. Here is a great master at work with a co-equal crew.”
Jazz ’n’ More

“Extraordinary creativity and high level of abstraction.”
Jazz Podium

“Konitz moves with mastery, adequately supported by his three partners who also have personal statements that speak for themselves.”
All About Jazz Italy (Full Review)

“In some ways, this group sounds like they’re getting to know each other for the first time as they play, testing the waters as they go. But the fact that they can strike up a non-verbal kinship and develop deep discussions are qualities that speak to the power of these players.”
Shanley on Music (Full Review)