Wow is a jazz tune written and performed by Lennie Tristano. It was recorded live in New York around 1950 and released on the album Wow by the Lennie Tristano Sextet. The piece is based on the chord progression of the standard You Can Depend on Me, and it shows Tristano’s cool jazz and avant-garde approach with a precise, almost mathematical sense of rhythm. The core sextet features Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, Billy Bauer on guitar, with an unknown bassist and drummer keeping time. The performance opens with a group statement of the theme, includes Marsh and Konitz solos, and culminates in a rapid, interlocking collective section. Wow exemplifies Tristano’s style of linear construction, poly rhythmic figures and dislocated meters that turn familiar tunes into intricate explorations.
