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Lennie Tristano: Cool Reputation, Hot Jazz

NPR | By Kevin Whitehead
Published February 4, 2015 at 1:44 PM EST

Lennie Tristano had a cool, egghead reputation — Time called him the "Schoenberg of Jazz" — but he could play pretty hot. Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a newly released 1951 live recording by the pianist's sextet at Chicago's Blue Note club.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Kevin Whitehead
Kevin Whitehead is the jazz critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Currently he reviews for The Audio Beat and Point of Departure.