3 Videos: Lennie Tristano

Lennie Tristano's piano had a different sound. Chords formed by both hands were jagged and percussive, as if trying to shake something loose from the keyboard. When improvising, his left hand typically kept meticulous time with a walking bassline while his right wandered with purpose. Together, they sounded like two people on the same flight of stairs, one plodding up while the other impishly skipped down haphazardly to get outside.

Here are three videos of the blind pianist and cool-jazz innovator in concert during a European tour in 1965:

Here's Tristano in Copenhagen...

Here's Tristano in Paris...

And here's Tristano in Berlin (at 18:17), on a spectacular bill that included Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Bill Evans, John Lewis and Jaki Byard...