Which Lester Young

[chris]

Which is the better way to spend around $20 to get some Lester Young: The Complete Aladdin Sessions or the Proper Box set: Lester Young Story??

[brownie]

I am with Clementine. Get the Aladdin. The Proper box is a good introduction

but with Lester Young you have to go beyond the introduction and get into the

real thing. The Aladdin set is one of the essential Lester Young releases.

[GPfr]

For what it's worth (what, twenty bucks?)........get the Aladdin. The first four tracks (Indiana, I Can't Get Started, Tea For Two, and Body And Soul (YES!!)) are worth the $20 admission price alone. These are trio pieces with Lester, Nat Cole on piano and Red Callender on bass. In its totality, this is an absolutely beautiful set.

[king ubu]

One more vote for the Aladdin. This was my introduction to Prez, and it has some of his very best recordings.

Once you'll get started with Lester Young, you sure would replace the Proper box, so why not just omit it and get the real thing!

Another good one would be the Commodore disc (called Kansas City Sessions or something similar)

ubu

[John L]

Well, the Aladdin recordings contains some of my very favorite music, and it would be very hard to find a better return on $20. Following the above advise and going for the Aladdin recordings would not be a bad move.

Still, a strong argument can be made for the Proper Box as a much better introduction to Pres. This box, which contains twice as much music, includes a strong selection of the recordings that put Pres on the map, first with Basie, the KC6, and Billie, and then with small groups (including the Aladdin sessions). Masterpieces abound. You not only get more music for your money here, but a complete overview of Pres at his most brilliiant in many contexts. The majority of Pres' most celebrated work is here.

The only serious argument that I could think of against the Proper box is that, if you eventually become a Pres freak like me, you will want it all and the Proper box will eventually become redundant. As an introduction to Pres, however, it looks unbeatable for quality and price.

[JSngry]

Tough call. The Alladin stuff is GREAT, but it only covers one time period. But damn, what a period it is! If this is you VERY first excursion into Lester, I'm tempted to suggest the Proper for the same reasons as John L. But unless you're one of those rare birds who just doesn't dig Pres, you WILL end up going deeper and deeper, and the Proper box will soon be redundant. OTOH, once it's no longer needed, what a perfect gift it will make to get somebody ELSE into Lester!

Either way, you win. How many times does THAT happen?

[DrJ]

Depends. If you are the type who, once bitten by an artist's work, likes to have as much of it as possible, go for the Aladdin. The Proper boxes are by all accounts excellent (haven't heard any) but they are compilations and so, once you really get into the artist's work, you may be irked to find some great stuff missing.

Just to make it more confusing, though: the Proper boxes are very inexpensive. Might be worth it to invest in the Proper and, if you really find yourself digging Lester and the Aladdin period, then add the Aladdin (you'll only have partial duplication).

[Dmitry]

Clem, what vinyl alternatives are there to this 2cd set?

The 1970s BN twofer?

[JSngry]

The 70s BN lacks the session w/Cole but is otherwise complete to the best of my knowledge. It's still how I have the Alladin material.

[Tom in RI]

I think the Alladin two-fer lacked One O'Clock Jump if I remember correctly.

[EKE BBB]

For a bit more cash, you can pick the two box-sets "The complete LY small group recordings 1936-1951" (Blue Moon), 4 cd and about 25€ each. They include all the small group studio recordings (with alternates) except those with Billie Holiday. It´s cheap, the booklet is slender but useful and the sound is passable.

With volume 1 you get all the master takes from 1936 to 1949.

Edited July 1, 2003 by EKE BBB

[Brad]

I have to take a general exception to the comment made about the Proper sets. They are a very affordable way to get a lot of music, some of which is unavailable elsewhere and a very good introduction to a particular artist. The Keynotes on the Coleman Hawkins are not that easy to get, even if you have a turntable. They're a stepping stone and a damn good one in my opinion. They're by no means the be all and end all but the booklets are quite well done. The sound is decent, no better and probably no worse thant the original. If you don't have a lot of Lester or a turntable and you're not sure how to go, these are a good jumping off point.

[pryan]

The Aladdin set totally hooked me on Prez and I still have many areas of his career to explore (although I've explored a lot already, in such a short time span). BUT, if this is your first dip into the Lester realm then you might want something that spans his entire career, which I'm assuming the Proper box does. Like Jim says, though, it's a win-win situation.

[mmilovan]

Gee, how many people choose Lester for his avatar! B)