The Magic of Jazz with Lee Konitz

* This is transcribed from an interview Lee Konitz gave at Vandoren – Paris on October 21, 1999. He is interviewed by Jean-Marie Paul

JMP: You’re currently playing the V16 mouthpiece. How do you characterize this type of sound in comparison with what you used to have?

LK: Years ago, I played a duo with Steve Lacy at the Radio and I met Jean-Paul Gauvin who came with Vandoren reeds and mouthpieces. A quarter of an hour later, I played with the Vandoren material! I’ve played many types of Vandoren mouthpieces; the V16 is very similar to the Meyer I used to play. I think that I’m getting a more classical sound (in the jazz point of view of course). I started my career with the clarinet and with a classical sound, and I think that I have carried that embouchure over to the saxophone. The V16 A6 mouthpiece is comfortable and very close to what I like. Recently Jean-Paul Gauvin gave me a small chamber (S); I usually play the medium chamber (M) and I enjoy playing it.

I’ve also been playing different strengths of reeds. I like to play the # 3 at home, maybe the # 3.5 with a duo. It gets a bit confusing, but the saxophone is a flexible instrument and I’m trying to find many different ways to flex it as much as possible.

So, when I started to play in the 50’s, I had a specific sound and over the years I made a reputation for making that kind of sound. When I heard Paul Desmond play for the first time, I wanted to change my sound immediately, because he reminded me of me! I enjoy changing embouchures, lifting the teeth up, going to the sides, doing all the things that are possible to find a comfortable way of playing. So over all these years I look forward to playing the saxophone every day, because it is an instrument full of surprises.

JMP: What are your criteria for choosing reeds?

LK: One of the reasons why I have associated myself with the Vandoren company is because I like the product and secondly because I am very fortunate to be able to try different models of reeds and mouthpieces.

I’ve found that I like different reeds at different times; I don’t know how many young musicians can do that... Since I’ve been playing Vandoren reeds, I’ve found them consistent, so I haven’t tried any other products. The Java and V16 #3.5 gets closest to the quality of sound that I like on stage.

JMP: I have heard that you also play traditional Vandoren reeds (blue box) from time to time.

LK: It’s hard for me to tell you why. I see how the reed vibrates. But generally I use the V16, which is more flexible for me. I don’t want to know all the details while I’m playing; during the final act of using these materials (the performance), I like having a mystery of what was involved in making them.

JMP: Could you share some insight about acoustics and concert halls you know about?

LK: Everything is different every night. Not using amplification helps a lot most of the time. Last night at the "Petit Journal" jazz club, we played the tunes without a microphone. In that room, they suggested that I play with a microphone and a little reverb, because the acoustics are rather flat and dead. But I did use monitors.

The night before, I played in Lilles with Martial Solal and Toot Thielemans in a big, beautiful hall. It's a different music, with different materials. If you expect to get what you got the night before, you are in trouble. When I go out on stage I don’t know the first note and I love that kind of tension! I am very excited to maintain this spontaneous process, preserving the surprise; that’s the magic of jazz, but sometimes it doesn’t work! I don’t try to remember solos; I just go onstage and improvise. Planning your music beforehand and playing it very well is quite legitimate; that’s another form of playing, composing, and playing it instrumentally. That’s actually what I hear many people doing. My ambition tonight is to play something I’ve never played before. This is another approach and that is the one I have chosen.

JMP: Do you have any specific advice you would like to share with the other saxophonists? Do you give master classes?

LK: Having played for 60 years (I started when I was 11), I believe that it is essential to enjoy the act of playing. Education plays a great part in the joy of playing. When I give a master class, I never teach to prepare professionals; I try to teach to someone that enjoys the act of playing.

The other point, in terms of the musical approach to playing an instrument is knowing all about the pre-instrumental preparation, the so called “warming up.” Most of us don’t have a sound-proof studio to practice in every day. Most of us must consider our neighbors. I have been doing that for my whole life and I found out one day that I have never played my full volume until I got on the bandstand. I advise students to put something in the bell and to play as full and as softly as possible, for their own sake... and the neighbors. My big point is that we should somehow play the music without needing to play the sound so much. Just be aware of the air function required to get a minimal sound, even by controlling it by stuffing the bell or by a mute.

Reed instruments are constantly changing and are demanding. By now, I am grateful to have picked up the saxophone. I don’t think I would have made a personal sound as easily with another instrument like a piano or a guitar. Pierre Boulez once said after he heard my sound that he thought it could be a standard sound for symphony orchestras.

JMP: Did you have any experience with symphony orchestras?

LK: There is a new CD with the Metropole Orchestra that I did. Years ago, Bill Holman wrote a piece for me that was a combination of Bartok and traditional jazz. In November I am playing a piece written for me with the Stadtorchester Frankfurt in Germany (Potsdam).

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