A tribute to the influential pianist and teacher

Pianist and educator Leonard “Lennie” Tristano was born on March 19, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois.

Born with weak eyesight that was completely gone by the time he was nine, he had classical piano lessons starting when he was eight and played several instruments in his early days including clarinet, saxophones, trumpet, guitar and drums.

Tristano, who played some jobs in the early 1940s on tenor before deciding to exclusively concentrate on piano, worked as a teacher and began getting attention as a pianist with his own fresh conception during 1944-45 when he performed regularly in Chicago.

He moved to New York in 1946, worked with a trio that usually included guitarist Billy Bauer and a bassist, and developed a harmonically advanced style influenced by bop but emphasizing endless melodic lines and unusual accents on familiar chord changes over a quiet metronomic rhythm section.

Tristano started utilizing altoist Lee Konitz in his group (along with a drummer) by 1948 and, later that year, tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh made the group a sextet.