Blue notes
On October 13, 2003, Konitz and his quartet were playing at Iridium on Broadway, one of New York's major jazz clubs, although Elvis Costello has since described it as "a shoddy little New York dive".
The world of jazz is not entirely free of hissy fits and, although accounts differ, it appears that bassist Gary Peacock chose the night of alto saxophonist Lee Konitz's 76th birthday to throw one.
On October 13, 2003, Konitz and his quartet were playing at Iridium on Broadway, one of New York's major jazz clubs, although Elvis Costello has since described it as "a shoddy little New York dive".
The band that night was made up of Konitz, Peacock, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Matt Wilson. Costello - who had featured Konitz on his then current album, North, and had collaborated with Frisell on several occasions - had been billed as a guest performer.
Peacock was having none of it. According to Costello, in his liner note for Frisell's 2009 Folk Songs compilation, "after one of the musicians felt it was beneath him to share a stage with me, I decided departure was the better part of valour". However, Costello's name had been used in publicity for the gig and fans who had come to see him perform weren't happy. "A black comedy ensued, as fist fights broke out between the members of the audience and the management, while Lee and Bill blew wild and free with little reference to the proposed set list," Costello recalled.
I remember reading that and wondering what the music sounded like. There is now an opportunity, 10 years on, to get some sort of an idea.
I don't know if that anarchic night at Iridium was recorded. If it was, as far as I know it has not been commercially released, but in August last year Konitz teamed up again with Frisell and Peacock, this time with drummer Joey Baron completing the quartet, to play The Blue Note Club in Greenwich Village under the group moniker Enfants Terribles. A recording of one of those sets has now been released on The Blue Note's Half Note record label.