Lee Konitz, a prolific saxophonist who was one of the earliest and most admired exponents of the style known as cool jazz, died April 15 in Manhattan, of complications of coronavirus and pneumonia. He was 92.

Although some musicians and critics dismissed Mr. Konitz’s style as overly cerebral and lacking in emotion, it proved influential in the development of the so-called cool school.  “My playing was about making a personal statement — getting audiences to pay attention to what I was saying musically rather than giving them what they wanted to hear, which is entertainment,” he said in a 2013 interview with The Wall Street Journal.  “I wanted to play original music.”