*****Lester Young Corner*****

[jazzbo]

He really was. He had that power to just reach out and shape the listeners' moments. And he captivated so many others and swept them along in the tide of his musical mind and musical personality.

His music can still always surprise me, an amazing thing really.

[paul secor]

He's close to the end, but this is precious. Such pretty notes.

It's not the notes for me as much as it is the irrevocable gravity, literally, of the tone & the shape of the lines. The tone, you can just hear the upper overtones being pulled back down into the tone, just as you can hear the line, how every time it starts to go up, it only goes so far before it inexorably begins to come back down again. Hell, for that matter, there's gravity to his time as well. In his early days, he played over the time (I would say on top of it, but that's a phrase that usually implies rushing of some sort, and that is definitely not a Prez-ian quality), but at htis point, he's playing underneath the time, like it's a river and he's part of the river that's flowing right on top of the river bed, moving, yes, but at a speed that is as slower than the top water as it is nevertheless synchronous with it.

Lester Young was a serious man.

Well said.

[Larry Kart]

Dizzy & Buddy Hackett sounds more plausible, conducted by Rex Harrison. is there any way, with today's technology, to do a music minus one, the absenstee in this case being Barry Miles? thank you for understanding elder don clementine

Hot and angular like Dizzy, lyrical like Bobby. The drummer on the Prez clip isn't Miles. The now seemingly out of reach Ford video that had the Stewart-Travis performance was of most of that show; it ended with a Miles drum feature. He was about 12. BTW, look at the way bassist Vinnie Burke reacts to what Prez is playing -- anxiety, love, respect, etc. flow across his face.

[mmilovan]

More, moooore, mooooooooore!!!

[medjuck]

He's close to the end, but this is precious. Such pretty notes.

This is pretty great but I've always thought the best Prez solo close to the end was on Fine and Mellow from The Sound of Jazz-- the tv show, not the so-called rehearsal Lp, though that solo's pretty good too. (You can see it in a truncated version on this same site. There's a lot of good stuff on that site.)

I've often wondered about the relationship of the Lp to the tv show. IIRC Prez plays with the Basie band on the Lp but not on the tv show which was a a few days later. Had he just become that much weaker during the intervening days? He has to sit during Fine and Mellow.

[medjuck]

Thanks for posting the link. Even toward the end, Pres had the feeling and the imagination.

The bit about Leonard Feather, John Hammond, Bob Sylvester, and someone whose name I didn't catch voting for the outstanding solo of the night pissed me off. Ridiculous that people might pay attention to fools. People voting on music is even more ridiculous.

That made me cringe, but out of morbid curiosity: Who won?

[gmonahan]

He's close to the end, but this is precious. Such pretty notes.

Lester Young was a serious man.

And he also played some very fine clarinet--wish he'd played more!

Greg Mo

[John L]

He's close to the end, but this is precious. Such pretty notes.

Lester Young was a serious man.

And he also played some very fine clarinet--wish he'd played more!

Greg Mo

Absolutely. I have always searched for a story behind why Lester Young gave up the clarinet in 37-38, and have never found one.

[mmilovan]

Absolutely. I have always searched for a story behind why Lester Young gave up the clarinet in 37-38, and have never found one.

His clarinet that Goodman gave him was stollen from his dressing room, and he gave up clarinet playing - goes the official story.

Somewhere I've read Sadik Hakim heard Pres playing clarinet around 1947 or so.

[Christiern]

Re Prez playing clarinet, here are a Q and A from the interview I did with him on August 24, 1958. The session he refers to took place February 8, 1958:

CA:

Do you ever play the clarinet anymore?

Prez:

Yeah, I just made some records for Norman Granz, about four or five or six months ago, on my clarinet.

Later in the interview, he added:

"Well, the way we make records for Norman, him and I--you'll make so many records, and then he'd keep 'em and put 'em like in a vault, and he'd stash 'em. and when he wants to go and get 'em, you know, then he bring 'em out. So you can never tell when you'll

hear

one, 'cause that's his business, you know?"

[John L]

Absolutely. I have always searched for a story behind why Lester Young gave up the clarinet in 37-38, and have never found one.

His clarinet that Goodman gave him was stollen from his dressing room, and he gave up clarinet playing - goes the official story.

Somewhere I've read Sadik Hakim heard Pres playing clarinet around 1947 or so.

Interesting. Thanks. I can't recall hearing either of those stories before.

By the time Pres pulled the clarinet out again for those last sessions for Norman Granz, It was a little too late. Not that those sessions don't have their share of beautiful and deeply moving music in spite of it all.

[mmilovan]

Something new:

rare photo of Lester Young in Birdland.

It is said in note to this photo:

My grandfather and Lester Young in Birdland, NYC..

They were close friends, and I have letters they exchanged during WWII. My grandfather was around 19 at the time.

In this photo: Ero Levealahti, Lester Young

Added by Christopher Schmelke

to "Lester Young"

january 2008

[Shrdlu]

Great to browse through this thread, though there's too much to look at in one sitting.

Re the plastic reed thing, my sax mentor, who was born in 1917, told me that cane reeds were either in short supply, or rationed, during WW II, and that that was why the ersatz reeds were introduced. This may be why Pres used them, though he continued to do so long after WW II. I would hate to use one, that's for sure. I'm hooked on the brown box Ricos - I never liked the supposedly superior "Royal" ones in the silver box. (I met Bud Freeman as a teenager, and was delighted to hear that he used the same as me, Rico V 2s.)

A French dude who used to be on the BN board, but disappeared from the world of boards and email a long time ago, sent me some CDrs of some late 30s Basie airshots. As mentioned above, it is great to hear Pres play without the 78 time limitation.

[jazzbo]

M,

Thanks so much for sharing that photo!

[jazzbo]

Today marks fifty years without Pres. . . .

[mmilovan]

Any news about those 16" LOC acetates from 1940?

Edited June 6, 2009 by mmilovan

[bichos]

no news about the 16" LOC acetates from 1940 but there is out a new d-cd at the storyville label:

http://www.storyvillerecords.com/default.aspx?tabID=2633&productId=27275&state_2838=2

have to check my discography what sessions are on it.

keep boppin´

marcel

[king ubu]

It says "Three of the sessions are unissued and on one track Oh! Lady Be Good young Miles Davis is on trumpet. It was recorded on a European tour Lester and Miles did in 1956. "

Hard to believe that unissued is actually true, but hey, if it is that's very cool!

The 1956 stuff w/Miles (and the MJQ and the René Urtreger Trio) is hardly news though.

[brownie]

The 7:14 version of 'Lady Be Good' comes from the November 2, 1956 Birdland All Stars concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris where Miles and Prez were backed by the French rhythm section of René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot and Christian Garros.

It remained an unissued item until now.

The shorter version comes from the November 19 concert in Zurich which was released on the Jazz Unlimited CD 'Miscellaneous Davis 1955-1957'.

[John L]

Very interesting! How much else on this package is genuinely "previously unissued," in the sense of not being on the common bootlegs or even the Japanese box set of live Pres?

[king ubu]

Ah, I see - that's cool! I thought it might have been on the Miles "European Tour '56" Definitive CD, but checking Losin there's only Nov. 12 (Freiburg, Germany) and Nov. 19 (Zurich, Switzerland) there, not Nov. 2 (Paris, France).

So this one wasn't even on "Lester Young - Live and private recordings in chronological order"?

[brownie]

Ah, I see - that's cool! I thought it might have been on the Miles "European Tour '56" Definitive CD, but checking Losin there's only Nov. 12 (Freiburg, Germany) and Nov. 19 (Zurich, Switzerland) there, not Nov. 2 (Paris, France).

So this one wasn't even on "Lester Young - Live and private recordings in chronological order"?

No!

That double CD from Storyville jumped right to the top of my want list!

Wonder what's the other unissued material there.

[king ubu]

first, the info from Storyville:

LESTER YOUNG

2 CD’s

You can’t overestimate Lester Young’s importance on the development of modern jazz. His superb melodic gift and logical phrasing and smooth, flowing lines were the inspiration for most of the jazz musicians regardless of instruments born after 1920. (Lester Young born 1909)

As Johnny Griffin said to Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis:

There are five tenor saxophonists that have made the styles we all get our inspiration from: Chu Berry, Don Byas, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. All the tracks on these two CD’s are from the fifties. Three of the sessions are unissued and on one track Oh! Lady Be Good young Miles Davis is on trumpet. It was recorded on a European tour Lester and Miles did in 1956.

CD 1

1. Indiana 7:21

2. A Ghost Of A Chance 3:54

3. How High The Moon 6:28

4. D.B.Blues 3:12

5. Lullaby Of Birdland/Up And At’em 5:36

6. Too Marvellous For Words 5:46

7. Lullaby Of Birdland 1:56

8. Just You, Just Me 6:19

9. It’s Only A Papermoon 8:23

10. Speak 0:59

11. I Cover The Waterfront 3:20

12. Up And At’em 3:15

13. Three little Words 4:24

14. I Cover The Waterfront 2:56

15. D.B.Blues 6:22

Total time 70:18

CD 2

1. Lester’s Mop Mop Blues 5:40

2. Tea For Two 1:36

3. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 3:52

4. Three Little Words 5:55

5. Lester Leaps In 3:16

6. Oh, Lady Be Good 5:31

7. Oh, Lady Be Good 7:14

8. Lester’s Mop Mop Blues 7:54

9. Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid 7:34

10. Lullaby Of Birdland 1:38

11. Lester Leaps In 3:14

12. These Foolish Things 3:35

13. Three little Words 4:40

14. Pennies From Heaven 2:59

15. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 3:39

16. Indiana 4:01

Total time 72:26

CD1

May 19, 1951

Lester Young Quintet

Birdland, New York City

Jesse Drakes t; Lester Young ts; John Lewis p; Gene Ramey; Jo Jones d

1. Indiana (Hanley-MacDonald) 7:23

2. A Ghost Of A Chance (Young-Washington-Crosby) 3:53

3. How High The Moon (Morgan Lewis) 6:28

4. D.B. Blues (Young) 3:13

January 15, 1953

Lester Young Quintet

Birdland, New York City

Jesse Drakes t; Lester Young ts; Horace Silver p; Franklin Skeete b; Lee Abrams d

5. Lullaby Of Birdland (Theme) (George Shearing) / Up ‘N Adam (Young) 5:36

6. Too Marvellous For Words (Whiting-Mercer) 5:48

CD2:

December 8, 1956 (afternoon)

Lester Young with Earl Swope & Bill Potts

Olivia’s Patio Lounge, Washington DC

Earl Swope tb; Lester Young ts; Bill Potts p; Norman Williams b; Jim Lucht d

7. Oh, Lady, Be Good (G. & I. Gershwin) 7:15

8. Blues In G (Up ‘N Adam) (Young) 7:53

9. Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid (Young) 7:34

10. Lullaby of Birdland (George Shearing) 1:36

December 15, 1956

Lester Young

Café Bohemia, New York City

Idrees Sulieman t; Lester Young ts; Sinclair Raney p; Gene Ramey b; Willie Jones d

11. Lester Leaps In (Young) 3:13

12. These Foolish Things (Morrell-Strachey-Link) 3:38

13. Three Little Words (Kalmar-Ruby) 4:41

December 22, 1956

Lester Young Quartet

Café Bohémia, New York City

Lester Young ts; Sinclair Raney p; Gene Ramey b; Willie Jones d

14. Pennies From Heaven (Johnston-Burke) 3:02

15. Polka Dots And Moonbeams (Burke-Van Heusen) 3:44

same, add Idrees Sulieman t

16. Indiana (Hanley-MacDonald) 4:01

------

that's what I can find... it contraditcts, however, brownie's statement, that:

The 7:14 version of 'Lady Be Good' comes from the November 2, 1956 Birdland All Stars concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris where Miles and Prez were backed by the French rhythm section of René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot and Christian Garros.

And this may all be wrong... I'm just trying to fit my info with the setlist & timings of the Storyville release!

Edited April 23, 2010 by king ubu

[flat5]

and just a short moment to thank Jesse Drakes for his contributions to Lester's music...

Jesse Drakes (born October 22, 1926, New York) is an American jazz trumpeter.

Drakes hung out at Minton's Playhouse in his youth, and attended Juilliard in the 1940s. He played in the 1940s with Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, Sid Catlett, J.C. Heard, Eddie Heywood, Deke Watson, and Sarah Vaughan (1947). He worked extensively with Lester Young; the pair collaborated on and off between 1948 and 1956. Alongside this Drakes played with Harry Belafonte, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, (1953), Louie Bellson, (1955), and Duke Ellington (1956).

In the late 1950s he played less jazz and more R&B music, touring with King Curtis and playing at the Motown studios in the 1960s. From 1969 he was based out of New York, leading dance ensembles and singing. He gave an interview with Cadence in 1984.

[king ubu]

Thanks for that short rundown of Drakes' career - had no idea he had been around for so long and done so much! I don't think I've heard him anywhere else, other then with Pres.