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Jazz Articles about Lester Young
Small Groups of the 1930s – Chu, Little Jazz, Rabbit and Pres (1937 - 1940)
by Russell Perry
While the jazz of the thirties was predominantly remembered as coming from orchestras and big bands, seminal soloists continued to record memorable music in small group settings, setting the stage for disruptive industry transitions to come in the 1940s. Small groups led by Chu Berry, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Hodges and Lester Young in this hour of Jazz at 100. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Chu Berry And His Stompy Stevedores. “Limehouse Blues" from Chu Berry: 1937-- 1941 (Classics) 2:30 ...
read moreIron Men
by Patrick Burnette
We end 2018 with a bang as the podcast celebrates its sixth--or iron--anniversary. Did you give your significant other a rose dipped in metal for your sixth? If you didn't, shame on you! Get dipping--it's never too late. As per usual at these shindigs, we discuss groups comprised of the number of musicians that the anniversary is -er, sextets, in this case. Happy New Year! Playlist Discussion of Lester Young's Kansas City Six recordings from the thirties on ...
read moreTelling Stories and Singing Songs
by Peter Rubie
“I believe if you're paying a man to play, and that man is on the bandstand and can play, he should get a chance to tell his story." --Lester Young Prez was once asked how to improvise, and reportedly he said, “Tell them a story." Telling stories about living the jazz life in the early 21st is the heart of what this column is going to be about. Pour yourself a beer or a glass of wine, and ...
read moreTag Team Jazz, Part 2-2
by Nathan Holaway
Part 1 | Part 2 Jazz has always celebrated rugged individuality, praising those who appreciate others but stay on their own path. So what happens when two (or more intelligent and original musicians come together? Most of the time, pure magic. Stellar tag teams have made some of the finest records in jazz history. Lester Young: Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Norgran, 1954) One of Young's greatest sessions, with Prez in ...
read moreLester Young: 100 Years - Forever Young
by Chris Mosey
In October 1944, Lester Young, one of the most influential saxophonists in jazz, was inducted into the US army. In the 15 months that followed he was subjected to blatant racial prejudice then court martialed for possession of marijuana and alcohol and sentenced to a year in a detention barracks. He returned to civilian life severely traumatized. As a result, the received wisdom is it's not worth listening to recordings made by Young after his discharge. This ...
read moreLester Young: Centennial Celebration Lester Young
by Andrew Velez
Although he'd lived a scant 50 hard years when he died in 1959, tenor sax giant Lester Willis Young was and remains one of the most vital and influential forces in jazz. He used words as singularly as he played, dubbing Billie Holiday “Lady Day"; theirs was an incomparable musical pairing and she returned the favor, calling him “Prez" for president. Prez proved to be the key link between the early jazz of Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins with the ...
read moreLester Leaps In... To His 100th Birthday
by David Amram
For Lester Young on his 100th birthdayI just went to a birthday celebration I will never forget. Maybe some in America have forgotten Lester Young, known as Prez (i.e., the president of the tenor saxophone), but people all over the world are still moved every time they hear the classic recordings of this giant. Prez was someone who helped change the face of jazz, and inspire people who listened to cherish the moments in their lives ...
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