Lennie Tristano Line Up Transcription and Analysis

Very few players in jazz have been as under-appreciated as Lennie Tristano has

been. It has only been quite recent that his influence has been realized. A prolific

teacher, Tristano has taken Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Sheila Jordan, Connie Crothers,

Billy Bauer, and more under his tutelage. With this influence, Tristano and his music

have permeated modern jazz. Through his students of Tristano and has only been

made apparent recently how influential he really has been. In regard to his teaching,

Warne Marsh has said “… right away just the simple logic, the terms in which he put

harmony and meter appealed to me. I had never been given them in my education until

that time. Briefly, he was explaining the theory of music in terms that are accessible to a

jazz musician rather than a composer.”1

Despite being a great teacher, Tristano could exemplify what he taught with the

utmost facility. This is demonstrated in an exemplary fashion if you listen to any of his

recordings. The amount of technical prowess he utilizes with his improvisations and

compositions are of the highest caliber. Very few wrote tunes of such complexity that

were also executed as exceptionally. Tristano and his acolytes composed tunes of

etude-like difficulty that were largely contrafacts, such tunes as Lennie-Bird, April,

Ablution and Marshmallow, to name a few. When one listens to these dizzying heads, a

feeling of complete mastery cannot be evaded. With the harmonic complexity meets the

technical complexity, combined with the shifting accents that disarm the listener,

causing confusion where beat one is. This was not some happy accident, these were

1 https://tv.nrk.no/serie/manhattan-studio
well rehearsed, well thought out compositions that can be studied endlessly for the

wisdom they contain.

Tristano began his life in Chicago with his mother and father and was the second

of four brothers. He was born in 1919 with poor eyesight that was later exacerbated by

contracting the measles at age six then became fully blind after glaucoma around age

ten. Initially attending regular public school, Tristano then attended a school for the blind

in Jacksonville, IL where he played saxophone, trumpet, drums and guitar. He pursued

music further and earned his bachelors and nearly completed his master degree at the

American Conservatory of music in Chicago. He then moved to New York in 1946 and

while he was there he played with bebop musicians of the time such as Charlie Parker

and influenced the next generation of musicians by teaching lessons in jazz harmony

and improvisation. His debut recording was Wow in 1950 (he recorded two other

albums earlier, Live in Birdland (1945-49) and Crosscurrents (1949) but those were

released in 1979 and 1972, respectively) which opens with a highly intricate melody,

harmonized in some parts as well as showcasing Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz and Tristano

on the original and difficult chord changes. This was the first that the public really heard

of Tristano and people were polarized for or against him. When you listen to the title

track, you get a feeling that this is even different from the “Cool” school that people so

love to categorize him into because of the sheer virtuosity needed to play a piece of this

caliber.

The track in question is from the self titled “Lennie Tristano” or “Tristano”. This

album came out in 1956 and employed some techniques that some still find

controversial. These techniques seem perfected in an exemplary fashion in his

recording of “Line Up”, an improvisation over “All of Me”. There is no head, it sounds

like the track starts at the top of the form with bass and drums for eight bars and then

piano enters in the middle of the form. This recording happened later in Tristano’s

career (1956) and displays a lot of techniques Tristano employed as an artist.

According to Ira Gitler in The Masters of Bebop, Tristano actually recorded this

particular track an octave down at half the speed and was sped up in post production by

Rudy Van Gelder. For jazz purists this is a gross infraction of musical integrity and

therefore nullifies the end result. Tristano himself never admitted to speeding up the

tape saying, “"If people want to think I speeded up the piano on "Line Up" and "East

Thirty-Second", I don't care. What I care about is that the result sounded good to me.”2

At the bare bones of this improvisation is time, and how Tristano treats time

reveals how much of a master he really is. There are several instances where Tristano

intentionally starts a phrase to turn around the time. In this instance, turning the time

around would mean that Tristano uses accents, phrasing and where he starts a phrase

to make beats two and four sound like one and three. This is best evidenced by

listening to the hi-hat in one of these confounding phrases and noticing, just for a few

seconds, how the hi-hat, which is traditionally played on two and four, feels like it is on

one and three, then returns back as if by magic. It is important to note that the bass and

drums do not waver from their feel in the slightest, making the turned around beat even

more impressive.

The first instance where Tristano turns the beat around is at bar 10 on beat four,

accenting the beat in such a way to make it sound like a new phrase has begun on beat

2 Gitler, Ira, 238 Masters of Bebop

one. This seemingly shortens the bar he is already playing in by one beat, making bar

10 feel like a bar of 3/4 and starting on beat one of a new 4/4 bar. The extra beat

seemingly is added onto the last bar of the four bar phrase making it feel like 5/4. To

illustrate, what is being played is notated like this:

C7 F‹7 œ
4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ Ó 4
&4 œ œ œ œ œ œ 4
5 C7 F‹7
4œœœ œœœ 3 œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ 5 bœ œ œ œ œ
œ œœ 4
& 4 As you can see it is4all in 4/4 time Ó
and looks fairly simple, but
4 at the tempo and
when you hear how Tristano plays this phrase, the beat immediately becomes distorted

and metric tension is created. If one were to notate how this metric tension would
C7 F‹7
sound,
4 itœ might look
œ something
œ œ œ like
œ œ this: œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ 4
&4 œ œ œ œ Ó 4
5 C7 F‹7 œœ
4 3 œ œ œ œ œ 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ 5 b œ
&4 œ œ œ œ œ œ 4 4 œœ Ó

The notes and note values are exactly the same, just the bar lines change. This

visualizes the way that Tristano breaks up his improvisations and shows how bar lines

can change the way a musician would phrase and accent a phrase like this. I feel

Tristano phrases the second way, even though he is given the strict four beats per

measure from the bass and drums. This concept could be likened to the way Charlie

Parker used to phrase his lines with disjointed accents on the “weak” offbeats of a

phrase, to add more interest than a straight, unaccented phrase. Tristano does this,
only on a larger scale using whole phrases on “weak” beats, insisting the time has

turned around then returning to resolve both metrically and harmonically.

The most extreme usage of this metric tension can be found in the phrase

starting in bar 49. The phrase begins normally, without Tristano having to affect the

altered time at the beginning to turn the time around. Then, on beat four in bar fifty-one

Tristano plays a triplet figure so strongly that ones ear is convinced that is beat one.

Because of this, the phrase and even the consequent phrase are “turned around”. How

this phrase is played appears like this:

A¨Œ„Š7 C7
bœ bœ
4 b œ œ bœbœbœ œ œ œ bœnœnœ#œ œbœ œ#œ œbœnœnœ#œ œb œ œ œnœ œ œ œnœbœ œ
&4
3 3

F7 nœbœbœnœ œ B¨‹7
œ œ nœbœ nœbœ œbœ œ œ nœbœ nœ œ nœ œbœ nœ bœ œbœ œ œbœ œ nœ
& #œ

D¨Œ„Š7 D¨‹7 C‹7 F7

b œ œ
œbœ nœ œbœ œ bœ nœ œ b œ b œ œ œbœ œ b œ b œ œbœ#œ œ œ œbœb œ œ œbœbœ œ
&

B¨‹7 E¨7 A¨Œ„Š7

b œ œ b œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ
& Ó œ
‰ bœ œ œ bœ ∑
J
A¨Œ„Š7 C7
b œ b œ œ bœbœ œ œ œ bœnœnœ#œ œbœ nœ#œ œ 4 b œ b œ œ œnœ œ œ œ
Even
& without anybœchange in the time this is a daunting phrase. The
4 harmonic
œ #œ 3 œ b œ nœ nœ
4
3 3
complexity of this and other phrases in this work require very close attention which will

be addressed
œ inœ later
n œ b œ paragraphs.
b œ n œ œ For the time being we will focus on the way Tristano
F7 B¨‹7
bœ
nœbœ nœbœ œbœ œbœ nœbœ nœ œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ œbœ œ œ
& bœ œ#œ

D¨Œ„Š7 D¨‹7 C‹7 F7

œ nœ œbœb œ nœ œ œ bœ œbœ nœ œ b œ b œ œ œbœ œ b œ b œ œ œ#œ œbœ œbœb œ œ œ œ
&
 D¨Œ„Š7 D¨‹7 C‹7 F7
œb œb œ nœ œ œb œ œ bœ nœ œ b œ b œ œ œbœ œ b œ b œ œbœ#œ œ œ œbœb œ œ œbœbœ œ
&

B¨‹7 E¨7 A¨Œ„Š7

handles the time in this extended phrase.
œ b œ Ifœwritten
œ œ with
œ the
bœ timeœchange
œ taken into
& Ó ‰ bœ œ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ ∑
account the phrase would look something like this:
J
A¨Œ„Š7 C7
b œ b œ œ bœbœ œ œ œ bœnœnœ#œ œbœ 3 œb œ nœ nœ#œ œ 4 b œ b œ œ œnœ œ œ
& bœ œ#œ 4 4 œnœ
3 3

F7
nœbœbœ nœ B¨‹7
œ œ œ nœbœ nœbœ œbœ œbœ nœbœ nœ œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ œbœ œ œbœ
& bœ œ#œ

D¨Œ„Š7 D¨‹7 C‹7 F7

œ œ
œ nœ œbœb œ nœ œ œ bœ œbœ nœ b œ b œ œ œbœ b œ b œ œ œ#œ œbœ œbœb œ œ œ œ
&

B¨‹7 E¨7 A¨Œ„Š7

bœ œ Ó b œ œ b œ œ œ b œ œ bœ nœ œ œ 5 bœ
& œ
‰ bœ bœ œ œ 4 ∑
J
Here you can see where the beat gets turned around and stays turned around for a full

twelve bars in the altered time. It is important to note that throughout the solo that

Tristano, even though he is turning the time around and disregarding bar lines at certain

departure points, he is in such control of the time to be able to find beat one no matter

how much he has turned the beat around. It is because of these metric tensions and

releases that Line Up is an extremely important work, even before you consider the

other devices Tristano uses.

Another important aspect of this particular solo of Tristano’s is harmonic.

Because of the sparse accompaniment and even more sparse chordal support, Tristano

is allowed to alter and embellish chord changes at whim. This kind of freedom would

tempt lesser musicians to play completely free and outside of the changes of all of me
but Tristano keeps the original chord changes fairly intact, along with the structure of the

tune. Tristano is credited by many to be one of the pioneering musicians into chord

substitutions. This practice references the harmony of the tune and adds more

harmonic interest by playing something that might not be necessarily tonal. He

achieves this by a few techniques. These techniques are: sidestepping the harmony,

taking a motive and transposing it to different keys to create tension and melodic

interest and superimposing different chord changes over existing ones.

The first example of side-stepping, a technique of playing in a key a half step

away from the chord and resolving it by playing in the home chord tonality or target

chord. To take a textbook example, Tristano utilizes this technique flawlessly in bar 145

when he plays this phrase:

A¨Œ„Š7
b œ bœ bœ bœ n œ n œ b œ œ bœ n œ b œ œ œ bC7œ œ
& œ œ Œ Ó ∑

When analyzed this phrase consists of two key centers that are a half step apart and

seamlessly resolve to a target chord. Tristano simply plays an Ab major arpeggio and

sidesteps that tonality by playing Db, Fb and A which enharmonically spell an A major

arpeggio. He doesn’t just limit himself to just the 1,3, and 5 of the arpeggio, he also

plays the 4th in A, giving it a quartal sound which is expertly resolved down to the Db

(C#) in A, then to Eb, C and Ab to resolve the tension created by this side-stepping.

The rest of the phrase is then resolved by playing an Ab arpeggio descending then

ascending, landing on the tonic of the subsequent C7.

 A fine example of transposing a musical motive happens around the same two

key centers in bar sixty-five:

A¨Œ„Š7 œ # œ œ n œ # œ œ #œ C7 n œ b œ œ œ
œ #œ œ œ œ bœ nœ b œ b œ n œ Œ
&

If you look at the first bar of the phrase, the notes are seemingly derived from an A

pentatonic scale with one added chromatic note (the b3). The beginning of this phrase

is especially jarring because Tristano starts on the key that one usually would sidestep

to. Then it resolves down a half step to the same phrase in the key of Ab which is the

key the home chord is in. It is amazing that Tristano can take this lick, one that is used

in many blues solos and is strikingly similar to the beginning of “Straight No Chaser”,

and create such harmonic interest. It shows that even a simple transposition of a

musical motive can be a powerful way to create melodic enjoyment for the listener.

A substitution in jazz is when a performer superimposes his or her own harmonic

progression over existing chord changes. This is a practice used by many people from

Charlie Parker to the most modern players. But when it comes to substitutions,

Tristano’s Line Up solo is a study on it’s own. Tristano substitutes his own harmonic

movement over the more plain All of Me progression to create a longer tension and

release than you would get with a regular progression. A shining example of this

technique is used in bar 201:

 C7
# œ n œ nF‹7
œbœ œ œ b œ # œ n œ n œ b œ œ# œ n œ
œ œ b œ b œ œn œ œ œ b œ nœ œ
bœnœ nœ œ
& Œ œ
B¨7 n œ #œ œ
#œ bœ œ nœ b œ œ œ b œ bœ bœ bœ b œ bœ
&

bB¨‹7
œ bœ bœ b œ œ #œ nE¨7
œ bœ nœ bœ bœ œ b œ n œ
A¨Œ„Š7
œ
#œ œ Œ Ó
&

Right away there is a clue that Tristano is deviating from the normal chord changes

when he is arpeggiating a D minor major seventh chord upward then coming down

parallel minor/major seventh chord in D flat. Tristano then resides in the C7 tonality for

awhile playing a C major pentatonic scale that immediately leaps up to a downward Gb

minor/major seventh arpeggio over F minor, then to a F major seventh arpeggio

climbing upward to an enclosure. This enclosure leads Tristano into finally hinting at the

F minor by playing a descending F minor 6 arpeggio then quickly departing from it by

playing two half-diminished arpeggios a half step apart (Eb-7b5 and D-7b5). After using

some transitionary notes Tristano then outlines a descending B major seven chord

(spelled Cb enharmonically), repeats the 5th and 6th from B major, plays an enclosure

around the major 3rd on a minor chord, jumps up to the root, approaches the 3rd of the

Eb7 from below, arpeggiates down, then plays a diminished arpeggio based off of the

7th up, landing on the 3rd of the Ab major seven in the next bar.

One more thing that makes Tristano so extreme is his use of extensions. There

are times in Line Up where Tristano plays an arpeggio as far as anyone could take it,

and make it sound good. Take for example the phrase in bar 133:
 œ œ œ œ
F7
œ bœ bœ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ
& œ œ bœ

B¨‹7 C7
bœ bœ œ b œ bœ œ œ œ bœ nœ œ
& œ bœ œ nœ œ œ b œ œ œ Ó

Starting right on beat one Tristano plays an F7 arpeggio all the way up to the traditional

nine but doesn’t stop there. He continues up to the natural eleven, the 13 and up

further to the root. He has played every note possible in the chord by playing the

arpeggio in this fashion, hyper-extending the chord, which adds harmonic interest and

allows him to continue his phrase, sidestepping down a half step to an Eb minor/major

seven arpeggio, altering the F7 and creating even more harmonic interest.

It is with the techniques outlined in this paper that Tristano has achieved the

status of being one of the masters of jazz. Even though his accolades arrived

posthumously and he never got the credit he deserved while living, his recordings

endure to teach new generations of players just as he taught his students. As long as a

mind is willing to endure the rigors of transcribing and delving into the harmonic

complexities of this work, Tristano’s influence will live on in the music of those who

study his music.