| Jazz Legend Lee Konitz 80th B-day Party |
Lee Konitz's Beautiful 80th Birthday PartyJune 25, 2007@8:30 pmTickets: $50 Carnegie Hall-Zankel Auditorium 881 Seventh Avenue 212-247-7800 festivalproductions.net carnegiehall.org omnitone.com  Lee Konitz "Portology" is the third in a series of ear-opening "larger ensemble" collaborations between Konitz and international jazz powerhouse composer/arranger/saxophonist Ohad Talmor. It celebrates 50 plus years of musical magic by Konitz with the debut of the Lee Konitz-Ohad Talmor Big Band, featuring the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, a European eighteen-piece big band based in Portugal. The album also marks the first time in Konitz's long career that he's actually fronted his own big band and it spotlights Konitz's under-recognized skills as a composer. Talmor, who directs the Konitz-Talmor Big Band, brilliantly realizes Konitz's compositions in state-of-the-art jazz big band arrangements that span Konitz's career -- from the brand-new five-part Rhythm Sweet to "Sound Lee," a well-known composition that Konitz jokingly says he composed "in 1849." "The idea, since the beginning, was to do an overview of Lee's past musical work until the present," explains the OJM's co-manager Pedro Guedes and co-producer of the CD. Konitz, known mostly for his small combo and duo, trio, and quartet recordings, prepares to begin his ninth decade in October sounding "better and more flavorful" particularly in collaborations with Talmor that recontextualize Konitz's sound in "larger ensemble" settings. All three ensembles converge in New York for a gala, one-night-only 2007 JVC Jazz Festival event on Monday, June 25th, at Carnegie Hall's Zankel auditorium. The festive concert titled "Lee Konitz's Beautiful 80th Birthday Party," co-sponsored by Carnegie Hall, will also include guest appearances by Steve Swallow and Paul Motian. It initiates a four-month celebration of international concerts by the Konitz-Talmor ensembles that culminate in Heidelberg, Germany, on October 13th, Konitz's birthday. More information about Lee Konitz-Ohad Talmor Big Band: "Portology" is available at omnitone.com, including a transcription of a full-length interview with Konitz and Talmor, artist biographies and discographies, and five special, humorous video "shorts" taken from the interview. More information on "Lee Konitz's Beautiful 80th Birthday Party" is available at festivalproductions.net and carnegiehall.org. {mos_ri}
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