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Lester Young
Born:
Lester "Prez" Young was one of the giants of the tenor saxophone. He was the greatest improviser between Coleman Hawkins and Louis Armstrong of the 1920s and Charlie Parker in the 1940s. From the beginning, he set out to be different: He had his own lingo; In the Forties, he grew his hair out. The other tenor players held their saxophones upright in front of them, so Young held his out to the side, kind of like a flute (see picture above). Then, there was the way he played: Hawkins played around harmonic runs. He played flurries of notes and had a HUGE tone that the other tenor players of the day emulated. Young used a softer tone that resulted In a soft, light sound (if you didn't know better, you would think the two were playing different instruments). Young used less notes and slurred notes together, creating more melodic solos. He played the ordinary in an extraordinary way, using a lot of subtleties to produce music that Billie Holiday said flips you out of your seat with surprise.
From The Heart To The Hips To The Head
by Robert J. Lewis
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. --Friedrich Nietzsche Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. --Frank Zappa The six decades spanning 1920 to 1980 describe more than just a chronological segment in the history of music; they ...
A Jazz Reading List
by Karl Ackermann
From 2015 through 2020, a personal research project included my reading dozens of jazz books and related media. They included mainstays such as the massive reference The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (Penguin Books, 2006), Ben Ratliff's excellent interview collection The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music (Times Books, 2008), the off-shore perspectives of Circular Breathing: The ...
Ted Brown Quartet: Just You Just Me
by Jack Kenny
Ted Brown's 2013 album, recorded at various locations in New York and New Jersey, is steeped in the traditions of both Lester Young and Lennie Tristano, but what emerges is distinctly his own. Born in 1927, Brown channels the inspirations of these jazz giants, yet asserts his own individuality in every phrase. The ghostly presences of ...
Joni Jazz, Part 2
by Chuck Lenatti
Part 1 | Part 2 As a young woman growing up in Canada, Joni Mitchell was fond of American popular music and bought records whenever she could afford them. She would sometimes swap painting jobs for jazz albums. Among her favorite jazz artists were Duke Ellington and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. She ...
A Savoy Revival: New OJCs from Hank Mobley & Yusef Lateef
by C. Andrew Hovan
Although the Concord Music Group acquired the legendary Savoy Records archives in 2017, the catalog has seen little reissue activity since. Founded in 1942 by Herman Lubinsky, Savoy earned distinction for documenting rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz over several decades. The label captured many of bebop's pioneering voices--Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Clarke, and Dizzy ...
Brandon Suarez: Introducing
by Pierre Giroux
Tenor saxophonist Brandon Suarez's Introducing showcases his vision of blending timeless elegance with youthful vitality. Inspired by jazz legends such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Suarez approaches the Great American Songbook as both a guardian and a creative interpreter. His aim was to craft a classic vocal ...
Stanley Clarke Band at The Carver
by Katchie Cartwright
Stanley Clarke The Carver Community Cultural Center / Jo Long Theatre The New Season 2025/26 San Antonio, TX October 11, 2025 A capacity crowd at The Carver's Jo Long Theatre celebrated the opening of San Antonio's 2025 season on October 11 with a high-spirited set from Stanley Clarke ...
Take Five with Saxophonist Inbar Solomon
by AAJ Staff
Meet Inbar Solomon Inbar Solomon is a saxophonist, flutist, and composer originally from Tel Aviv, Israel who is now based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of The New School's Jazz and Contemporary Music program, he received significant merit scholarships from both The New School and Berklee College of Music. Solomon has appeared at major international ...
Lost and Found, Part 2: Historic Jazz Recordings from the Swing Era
by Larry Slater
Lost recordings of the early decades of jazz are particularly rare and greatly valued, as the great soloists of the swing era were constrained by the length of the 78rpm shellac disc. Jazz fans and scholars were thrilled to learn about the Savory Collection, which was released in 2018. Bill Savory was a music ...
