Tristano was blind from infancy. He exposed piano & music theory from either pre-teen years.

His interest inside jazz inspired the move to New York City in 1946. Tristano's advanced grasp of harmony fit with a prevailing bebop movement, & he earned the reputation as a talented piano player, perfoming and recording by using bop's leading numbers, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Tristano formed the sextet, featuring saxophone players Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. the sextet recorded a total of acclaimed compositions, including 1949's "Intuition" & "Digression." Each songs were wholly improvised, sustaining there is no prearranged melody, harmony or rhythm. These ii songs come occasionally cited when a number one free jazz and earliest free improvisation.

Per mid-1950's, Tristano got nigh retired from either active performing & recording, finding instead to focus his energies in music education.

Tristano's compositions--occasionally classified when cool jazz--are noted for their periodically unusual structure, including have of counterpoint: a feature however uncommon among jazz performances.