Feeling the limitations of the jazz combo format that was prevalent in the late 1940s, Miles Davis assembled a nonet to play music that allowed for more orchestration and color, while still maintaining the improvisational elements of that era’s be-bop sound. With orchestrations from the great arranger Gil Evans, as well as band members Gerry Mulligan and John Lewis, the band performed briefly in the fall of 1948. But it wasn’t until 1949 that the group entered the studio to record what would become Birth of the Cool, a seminal recording that kicked off a movement that became known as “cool jazz.”

Among this group of talented musicians was alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who will be performing on Saturday at the Kennedy Center‘s Terrace Theater. Just in his early 20s at the time, Konitz was chosen for the Cool band because of his distinctive sound, in a period when most alto players were trying to emulate Charlie Parker. His warm tone and fluid style not only made him an appropriate choice for Davis’s band, but also allowed him to become one of the great exponents of the cool jazz movement. Over the subsequent 60 years, Konitz has maintained a high level of musicianship, recording dozens of albums as a leader and earning the title of Jazz Master from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I stay fresh by trying to to find another angle and juxtaposition in the music,” Konitz told DCist during a recent interview. “Here I am after all these years, and I can still play a different version of ‘All the Things You Are.'”