Lee Konitz At Storyville Side 1

Lee and Charlie go back a long way. They met in 1956, when my father, aged 19, moved to Los Angeles from his hometown of Springfield, MO.

Included in Charlie’s record collection are many albums he purchased in those early L.A. years, between 1956-60. Lee Konitz’ At Storyville is one of them. The jacket’s falling apart. The disc has no innersleeve. The vinyl crackles. Released on 10” 33rpm disc in 1954, At Storyville features alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, pianist Ronnie Ball, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Al Levitt, recorded in Boston during a live set at pre-Monterey Jazz Fest George Wein’s Storyville nightclub. It’s on George Wein’s Storyville Records. George Wein wrote the liner notes.

I met Lee Konitz several times. He had been described to me as a cranky curmudgeon. He was not cranky nor curmudgeonly to me. He was friendly and full of positive energy and enthusiasm. The last time I saw him was at my father’s memorial at NYC’s Town Hall, January 2015. Despite the somber occasion, backstage was filled with legendary musicians getting ready to play. When musicians are getting ready to play they’re happy no matter what. Lee was filled with happiness and hope for the future. At the time he was 87 years old. He looked twenty years younger.

This is the copy from Charlie’s archive. I digitized it. It was remastered and put out with similar live recordings, on CD in 2020. I haven’t heard the result but encourage you to seek it out. I’ll post side 2 next week. Solid, Jackson.

Lee Konitz At Storyville (10” LP, mono, 1954, Storyville Records)

Lee Konitz, saxophone; Ronald Ball, piano; Percy Heath, bass, Al Levitt, drums.

Recorded 5 January 1954, Storyville, Copley Square Hotel, Boston, MA.

Side One

1. Hi Beck (Konitz)

2. These Foolish Things (Maschwitz/Strachey)

In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. I’m writing a book of Memoires about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com.

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