Lester Young
Wikimp3 information about the music of Lester Young. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Lester Young. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Lester Young represents Jazz genres.
Biography
[Edit]Lester Young was one of the true jazz giants, a tenor saxophonist who came up with a completely different conception in which to play his horn, floating over bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. A non-conformist, Young (nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday) had the ironic experience in the 1950s of hearing many young tenors try to sound exactly like him.
Although he spent his earliest days near New Orleans, Lester Young lived in Minneapolis by 1920, playing in a legendary family band. He studied violin, trumpet, and drums, starting on alto at age 13. Because he refused to tour in the South, Young left home in 1927 and instead toured with Art Bronson's Bostonians, switching to tenor. He was back with the family band in 1929 and then freelanced for a few years, playing with Walter Page's Blue Devils (1930), Eddie Barefield in 1931, back with the Blue Devils during 1932-1933, and Bennie Moten and King Oliver (both 1933). He was with Count Basie for the first time in 1934 but left to replace Coleman Hawkins with Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately, it was expected that Young would try to emulate Hawk, and his laid-back sound angered Henderson's sidemen, resulting in Pres not lasting long. After a tour with Andy Kirk and a few brief jobs, Lester Young was back with Basie in 1936, just in time to star with the band as they headed East. Young made history during his years with Basie, not only participating on Count's record dates but starring with Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson on a series of classic small-group sessions. In addition, on his rare recordings on clarinet with Basie and the Kansas City Six, Young displayed a very original cool sound that almost sounded like altoist Paul Desmond in the 1950s. After leaving Count in 1940, Young's career became a bit aimless, not capitalizing on his fame in the jazz world. He co-led a low-profile band with his brother, drummer Lee Young, in Los Angeles until re-joining Basie in December 1943. Young had a happy nine months back with the band, recorded a memorable quartet session with bassist Slam Stewart, and starred in the short film Jammin' the Blues before he was drafted. His experiences dealing with racism in the military were horrifying, affecting his mental state of mind for the remainder of his life.
Although many critics have written that Lester Young never sounded as good after getting out of the military, despite erratic health he actually was at his prime in the mid- to late-'40s. He toured (and was well paid by Norman Granz) with Jazz at the Philharmonic on and off through the '40s and '50s, made a wonderful series of recordings for Aladdin, and worked steadily as a single. Young also adopted his style well to bebop (which he had helped pave the way for in the 1930s). But mentally he was suffering, building a wall between himself and the outside world, and inventing his own colorful vocabulary. Although many of his recordings in the 1950s were excellent (showing a greater emotional depth than in his earlier days), Young was bothered by the fact that some of his white imitators were making much more money than he was. He drank huge amounts of liquor and nearly stopped eating, with predictable results. 1956's Jazz Giants album found him in peak form as did a well documented engagement in Washington, D.C., with a quartet and a last reunion with Count Basie at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. But, for the 1957 telecast The Sound of Jazz, Young mostly played sitting down (although he stole the show with an emotional one-chorus blues solo played to Billie Holiday). After becoming ill in Paris in early 1959, Lester Young came home and essentially drank himself to death. Many decades after his death, Pres is still considered (along with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane) one of the three most important tenor saxophonists of all time.
Title: The Immortal Lester Young, Vol. I (Doxy Collection; Remastered Version)
Artist: Lester Young
Genre: Jazz
Title: Giants of Jazz, Vol. 2
Artist: Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson, Vic Dickenson
Title: Complete Savoy Masters, 1944-49 (Doxy Collection; Remastered Version)
Artist: Lester Young
Genre: Jazz
Title: Kansas City Swing. The Complete Commodore, Signature & Keynote Sessions
Artist: Lester Young
Genre: Jazz
Title: Prez & Teddy - The Great Recordings
Artist: Lester Young, Teddy Wilson
Collections
Title: Just Cooling
Genre: Jazz
Title: Hip Cats - The Swingin' Generation
Genre: Jazz
Title: Great Jazz Saxophonists
Genre: Jazz
Title: Kings of Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Classic Gatsby Wedding Party
Genre: Jazz
Title: Groovy Jazz for Groovy Dads
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jumpin' With the Big Swing Bands
Genre: Electronica, Jazz
Title: 50 Traditional Jazz Standards, Vol. 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: I Got Rhythm - Godfathers of Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Perdido. For the love of Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Bebop Romps
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Street Beats
Genre: Jazz
Title: Greatest R&B Hits of 1940-1945, Vol. 4
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: Jazz the Morning After
Genre: Jazz
Title: Thrill Jazz! - Saxophone Greats
Genre: Jazz
Title: Best of Jazz Saxophone
Genre: Jazz
Title: Irving Berlin Songbook: Cheek to Cheek
Genre: Jazz
Title: Greatest Classics: Forever Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Most Influential Jazz Trumpet Players
Genre: Jazz
Title: Soul Gems (Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Essential Jazz Hits
Genre: Jazz
Title: 20th Century Jazz Hits
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz For the First Time
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Music Legends
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Music Legends
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Best of Duke Ellington and Count Basie
Genre: Jazz
Title: Cool Jazz Essentials
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Most Essential Jazz Performances
Genre: Jazz
Title: Greatest Broadway Instrumental Hits
Genre: New Age
Title: Northern Soul Forever
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: The Greatest Jazz Standards
Genre: Jazz
Title: Funk Elements
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: The Jazz Collection Vol. 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: Rodgers & Hart Songbook: Blue Moon
Genre: Jazz
Title: All That Jazz, Vol. 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Night
Genre: Jazz
Title: Timeless Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: The 50 Best Swing Songs Ever
Genre: Jazz
Title: About a Girl: Classic Doo Wops and Broken Hearts
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: Vintage Jazz Collection Vol 4
Genre: Jazz
Title: Tea for Two - For the Love of Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Superstars of Jazz: The Best Recordings of the 40s
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Hot 100 - Swing Jazz, Vol. 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: This Is Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz For a Chill Commute
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz: Love Songs
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Most Influential Jazz Saxophonists
Genre: Jazz
Title: Evolution of Jazz - The 50's
Genre: Jazz
Title: Broken Hearted Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Commodore Story
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Explosion - The Greats Volume Nine
Genre: Jazz
Title: Giants of Jazz: Love Songs
Genre: Jazz
Title: Giants of Jazz: Guitar
Genre: Jazz
Title: Funk Elements: Rare Grooves and Jazzy Vibes
Genre: Jazz, World Music
Title: Vintage Jazz Collection Vol 1
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Best of Duke Ellington and Count Basie
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Art of Jazz Saxophone: The Masters
Genre: Jazz
Title: Original Sound Deluxe Clarinet Masters
Genre: Jazz
Featuring albums
Title: Forever Jazz: Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (The Best Collection)
Artist: Vários Artistas / Varios Artistas
Genre: Jazz
Title: Ken Burns Jazz: Count Basie
Artist: Count Basie
Genre: Blues, Jazz, Rock, Grunge, Alternative
Title: Woody Allen - Music From His Movies (Volume 2)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Woody Allen - Music From His Movies (Volume 4)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Woody Allen - Music from His Movies, Vol. 7
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: I'm Beginning To See The Light, Dance Hits from the Second World War
Artist: Various
Genre: Pop
Title: Too Marvelous For Words: The Johnny Mercer Songbook (Disc 2)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Jazz Masters - 27 Classic Performances From The Columbia Masterpieces Series
Artist: Various
Genre: Jazz
Title: Standard Jazz: The Masters Perform the Great American Songbook, Vol. 2
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz