Though Lee Konitz is still closely associated with the "cool" jazz that flourished in the '40s and '50s, his decades-long discography runs the gamut from Dixieland to free jazz. The alto saxophonist's big break came from playing with Miles Davis' group for the epochal Birth of the Cool album, but he parted ways with Davis soon after to put in time with Stan Kenton's orchestra and release several significant one-off collaborations. Now 80 years old, Konitz is one of the only active sax men who can still claim to have had a friendly sense of competition with Charlie Parker.