What was cool about Lester Young was that he kept evolving.
All "Pres" did was:
-- Pave the way for bebop in the 1930s.
-- Presuppose, while playing clarinet with Basie back in the day, the cool California sound of Paul Desmond in Dave Brubeck's 1960s band.
-- Later find his own endless vista of late-period thoughtfulness in the 1950s.
Young's health was bad by his last period in the '50s, and he eventually drank himself to death. But when he was in the mood, he made some of the most openly joyful, deeply emotional tenor music there was.
Obviously, you buy anything he did with Billie Holiday. This stuff was so achingly beautiful and so perfectly in sync that it seemed impossible that they were not lovers.
But he recorded for two decades — with Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Buck Clayton, and others — so that's just the beginning. Young's stuff was originally on Brunswick, Okeh, Savoy, and Vocalion. It has later been reissued by Sony/Columbia, Jazz Portraits, Bluebird, and others.
Here are three other recommendations:
Timeless Lester Young from Savoy: Fifteen tracks to get you started. Classics from the 1940s and '50s. A favorite is "Jump, Lester, Jump."
Lester Young, With the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1952: Peterson (and the underrated Ray Brown on bass) help the cool-swinging Pres breathe life into a series of timeless pieces ... "Tea for Two," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," "Almost Like Being in Love," so on. Completely in the pocket.
Pres and Teddy from 1956, Polygram: Recorded the day after another late-period classic called "Jazz Giants '56," this was a long-awaited reunion with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Jo Jones. The record best shows that while his 1930s style was more forceful, Young's late-period playing was far more considered and emotional. "All of Me" is soulful, even shattering.
Article comments