He was one of relatively few alto saxophonists of this era to retain a distinctive style, when Charlie Parker exerted a massive influence.

[2][3] His father, who was born in Brody, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine), operated a laundry business in the back of which the family lived.

[5] Konitz's early influences were big band horn players such as Johnny Hodges, Roy Eldridge, Willie Smith and Scoops Carry.

He also greatly admired Louis Armstrong and credited the influence Benny Carter's solo on "I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me" had on him.

[8][9] He participated with Miles Davis in a group that had a brief booking in September 1948 and another the following year, but he also recorded with the band in 1949 and 1950; the tracks were later collected on the album Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1957).

[9] Parker lent him support on the day Konitz's child was born in Seattle, Washington, while he was stuck in New York City.

The recordings drew on nearly the entire history of jazz from Louis Armstrong's "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", with valve trombonist Marshall Brown, to two free improvisation duos: one with a Duke Ellington associate, violinist Ray Nance, and one with guitarist Jim Hall.

Konitz worked with Warne Marsh, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Attila Zoller, Gerry Mulligan, and Elvin Jones.

He soloed on Elvis Costello's song "Someone Took The Words Away" in 2003, and his album with saxophonist/vocalist Grace Kelly was given 4 1/2 stars by Michael Jackson in Down Beat magazine.

In August 2012, Konitz played to sell-out crowds at the Blue Note club in Greenwich Village, as part of Enfants Terribles, a collaboration with Bill Frisell, Gary Peacock, and Joey Baron.

Days after his 87th birthday in 2014, he played three nights at Cafe Stritch in San Jose, California, with the Jeff Denson Trio, improvising on his favoured old standards.

[14] In 2018, his duo album Decade (Verve Records) celebrated both his 90th birthday and ten years of collaboration with pianist Dan Tepfer.

Ruth appears to have been a writer before she married, as she wrote an article with Barry Ulanov about Lennie Tristano that was published in the November 1946 issue of Metronome.