Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz has played with musical greats such as Miles Davis, Wayne Marsh and Gerry Mulligan.

Whilst on a European tour, the jazz legend told BBC World Service how he continues to invent sounds, mixing well- known standards and free improvisation.

"Each time I play it is a little different," he said.

"The way that we learn to play is with people and for people."

Innovative

With recordings such as Dig Dug Dog and Hairy Canary to his name, it is unsurprising to learn that Lee Konitz is best known for his own brand of jazz.

Konitz played on Miles Davis' historic Birth of the Cool

In the late 1940s, when bebop founder Charlie Parker was pushing forward the boundaries of what was possible on the saxophone, Konitz was one of the few jazz musicians who explored a different route.

Explaining how his less rigid style came about he told the Jazzmatazz programme, "I used some strange rhythms because I couldn't catch up to the rhythm section.

"People talked about it as part of being a new sound and I thought, 'OK, just as long as you spell my name right.'"

Flexible

The UK leg of Konitz's current tour sees him performing with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. When the tour travels around Europe he will play in his favourite context, with just bass and drums.

Konitz doesn't lead his own band and whilst he recognised that this may be unusual for an influential player of his generation, he has his reasons for remaining flexible.

"I am going to be 75 in a couple of months and maybe it's time to get my own band?" he pondered.

"The problem is that the people that I really love to play with, everybody else really loves to play with and I can't have a band until they can become available."

Improvisation

Konitz's individual style had its origins in the late 1940s when he played with a circle of musicians, developing ideas with the pianist Lennie Tristano.

"For the most part I've worked by myself over the years and have felt very grounded, but Tristano and I used to sit together for hours," he explained.

"I learnt very basic stuff, but I was mostly inspired by his dedication and his ability to verbalise ideas."

Improvisation, in Konitz's view, is just as important to music as composers and musicians.

"It's the improvisers that start the whole process," he said, "the writers get their ideas from the improvisers."