The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions On Verve, Vol 3

The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions On Verve Vol III

The President of Sound: An Exhaustive Study of Lester Young

In the pantheon of jazz giants, few figures cast a shadow as long, as cool, and as profoundly influential as Lester Willis Young. Known to the world as “Prez” (a title bestowed upon him by the immortal Billie Holiday, meaning The President of the Tenor Saxophone), Young was not merely a musician; he was an architect of modern jazz. His approach to the tenor saxophone was a radical departure from the prevailing style, introducing a light, airy, and subtly complex sound that would become the bedrock of the “Cool Jazz” movement and influence generations of musicians. To understand Lester Young is to understand a fundamental shift in the DNA of American music.

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Biography: The Gentle Giant

Early Life and Musical Beginnings (1909-1930)
Lester Young was born on August 27, 1909, in Woodville, Mississippi, and raised in a musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, Willis Handy Young, was a respected music teacher and bandleader who led a family band that toured carnivals and vaudeville circuits. The Young family was a musical dynasty; Lester learned drums, violin, and trumpet before finally settling on the alto saxophone.

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The family’s itinerant lifestyle was grueling, and Lester, a sensitive and introverted child, often clashed with his strict father. The breaking point came in his late teens when he refused to tour the racist South with the family band. He left the group in 1927, a decision that led to a long-standing estrangement from his family but set him on his own path to immortality.

The Crucible of the Southwest (1930-1936)
Striking out on his own, Young found work with several prominent bands in the thriving “territory band” scene of the American Southwest, including those led by Art Bronson, Walter Page’s Blue Devils, and most significantly, Bennie Moten and Count Basie. It was during this period, circa 1930, that he switched from alto to tenor saxophone, a move that would define his destiny.

The years with the Basie band, first in its earlier incarnations and then famously with its famed lineup, were his formative period. Here, in the competitive, jam-session-heavy environment of Kansas City, Young’s unique style crystallized. He avoided the muscular, vibrato-heavy, and dominant approach of the era’s tenor king, Coleman Hawkins. Instead, Young developed a lighter tone, a relaxed, behind-the-beat rhythmic sense, and a linear, melodic conception that prioritized harmonic ingenuity over brute force.

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Rise to Prominence with Basie and Billie (1936-1940)
Young’s first major breakthrough came when he officially joined Count Basie’s orchestra in 1936, replacing Coleman Hawkins himself. His recordings with Basie from this period are landmarks of jazz. Tracks like “Shoe Shine Boy,” “Lady Be Good,” and “Lester Leaps In” stunned the jazz world. His solos were not just improvisations; they were perfectly structured stories, full of whimsy, logic, and a new kind of swing.

Concurrently, he began his historic collaboration with vocalist Billie Holiday. Their musical kinship was immediate and profound. They shared a similar rhythmic approach—a laid-back, languid feel that played with time and space. Holiday gave him his famous nickname, “Prez” (short for President), and he called her “Lady Day.” Their recorded output together, including masterpieces like “This Year’s Kisses,” “Mean to Me,” “A Sailboat in the Moonlight,” and “Fine and Mellow,” represents one of the most sublime partnerships in music history. They didn’t just accompany each other; they conversed, their instruments (Young considering his tenor an extension of his voice) intertwining in intimate dialogue.

The War Years and Personal Struggles (1940-1943)
Despite his professional success, Young was an outsider. His idiosyncratic speech, style of dress (his famous porkpie hat and long, draped coats), and introverted nature made him a target for misunderstanding. This came to a tragic head in late 1944 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II.

The military was a catastrophic environment for Young’s sensitive spirit. He was not built for regimentation and was subjected to intense racism. He was eventually court-martialed for possession of marijuana and barbiturates and sentenced to a year in a detention barracks. This experience deeply traumatized him. Friends and colleagues noted a profound change in his personality and playing after his discharge in late 1945. A certain innocence was lost, replaced by a darker, more melancholic edge.

The Later Years and Decline (1946-1959)
The post-war era saw Young become a revered elder statesman of the new “Cool” movement, with acolytes like Stan Getz and Dexter Gordon explicitly building on his foundation. He toured extensively with Jazz at the Philharmonic, engaging in famous “saxophone battles” that thrilled audiences, though the competitive format often forced him into a more aggressive style than his natural inclination.

However, the trauma of his army experience, combined with the pressures of racism and the jazz life, led him to increasingly seek solace in alcohol. His health deteriorated throughout the 1950s. His playing, while still capable of breathtaking beauty, became more fragile and less consistent. His body was failing, but his mind remained sharp and his sound uniquely his own. His final reunion with Billie Holiday for the CBS television special “The Sound of Jazz” in 1957 provides one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful moments in music history: his achingly tender solo on “Fine and Mellow” offered a public testament to their deep, unbreakable bond.

Lester Young returned to his room at the Alvin Hotel in New York City after a grueling engagement in Paris and died in the early hours of March 15, 1959. The official cause was a heart attack, but the true cause was a life of hardship. He was 49 years old.

Music Style and Improvisational Licks

The Sound and Philosophy
Lester Young’s style was a revolution in tone and phrasing. Where Coleman Hawkins offered a robust, vertical sound full of hot vibrato, Young offered a cool, horizontal, almost vibrato-less tone. He described his ideal sound as wanting to sound like a human voice, specifically a dry, light, floating baritone. He achieved this through a unique embouchure and a surprisingly hard reed on a broad-chambered mouthpiece.

His rhythmic concept was his most radical innovation. He mastered the art of “playing behind the beat,” creating a sense of relaxed, effortless swing that felt both lazy and propulsive. This concept of laid-back timing would become the cornerstone of cool jazz and West Coast jazz.

Improvisational Vocabulary and Signature Licks
Young’s improvisations were masterclasses in melodic construction. He avoided running through arpeggiated “riffs” like many of his contemporaries. Instead, he constructed solos like a storyteller, developing simple motifs into complex, lyrical narratives.

His language was built on a specific set of phrases and devices:

1. Repeated Notes: He would often take a single note and repeat it with rhythmic variations, creating tension and a hypnotic effect before releasing into a flowing line.
2. Neighbor Tones and Enclosures: A quintessential Prez-ism was to approach a target note from above and below. For example, to land on a C, he might play a D-flat (above) followed by a B (below) and then the C. This created a subtle, sophisticated melodic tension.
3. The “Lester Lick”: One of his most famous patterns involved a triplet figure leading into a held note, often using the flatted fifth or other “blue” notes. It’s a sighing, vocal-like gesture.
4. Quoting and Humor: Young was a master of inserting witty musical quotes from popular songs, nursery rhymes, or classical pieces into his solos, a tradition that became a staple of jazz improvisation.

His solo on “Lester Leaps In” is a perfect encyclopedia of his style: the relaxed timing, the repeated notes in the opening chorus, the seamless flow of ideas, and the irresistible swing.

Cooperation with Other Artists

Young’s most significant collaborations are pillars of jazz history:

• Count Basie: This was his musical home. The Basie orchestra provided the perfect, sparse, and swinging backdrop (“All-American Rhythm Section”) for his lyrical flights. Their synergy defined the Kansas City swing sound.
• Billie Holiday: This was his musical soulmate. Their collaboration was less about leader and accompanist and more about a profound conversational partnership. He didn’t just play behind her; he anticipated her phrasing, answered her vocal lines, and elevated every song they touched.
• Teddy Wilson: As the pianist on many of the seminal Billie Holiday recording sessions, Wilson’s elegant style meshed perfectly with Young’s, creating a timeless trio with bassist Walter Page or guitarist Freddie Green.
• Jazz at the Philharmonic: Though a less natural fit, his tours with Norman Granz’s JATP packages in the 1940s and 50s brought him great popularity and financial stability, pairing him with greats like Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, and Illinois Jacquet.

Chord Progressions and Music Harmony

Young was a harmonic revolutionary. While he was a master of navigating the standard chord progressions of his day (the blues, rhythm changes, and popular song forms), his approach was radically different.

He was one of the first musicians to liberally use “passing chords” and “substitute harmonies.” Rather than simply outlining the basic triads or seventh chords of a progression, he would imply more complex chords or superimpose new ones over the existing structure. For instance, over a standard II-V-I progression (Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7), Young might play lines that implied a Dm7♭5-G7♭9-C6, adding a layer of sophisticated tension and release.

He had an uncanny ability to highlight the “color” tones of a chord—the 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths—weaving them into his melodic lines to create a richer, more modern harmonic flavor. This approach, moving away from chord-scale theory and towards a more linear, voice-leading-based improvisation, provided the crucial link between the swing era and the bebop that followed. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie would systematize and accelerate this harmonic exploration, but Lester Young was the pioneer who first pointed the way.

Influences and Legacy

Influences on Young: His primary influence was the white C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, whom Young cited as his main inspiration. He admired Trumbauer’s cool, legato, and lyrical approach on the instrument. He was also influenced by Bix Beiderbecke (cornet) for his pure tone and lyrical ideas.

Young’s Influence: Lester Young’s legacy is arguably the most pervasive of any jazz instrumentalist.

• The Cool School: He is the direct patriarch of the Cool Jazz movement. Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Warne Marsh (the “Four Brothers” sound of the Woody Herman band) built their entire styles on the foundation of Prez. Miles Davis famously admired his melodic conception and tone, channeling it into his own trumpet style.
• Bebop: While more overtly influenced by Young’s harmonic innovations, Charlie Parker also credited Young’s rhythmic freedom. Young’s linear phrasing and relaxed time were a key ingredient in the bebop recipe.
• The Tenor Saxophone Lineage: Every major tenor player that followed owes him a debt. From the cool school to Dexter Gordon, and even to more robust players like Sonny Rollins, Young’s language is an essential part of the saxophone lexicon.
• Beyond Jazz: His influence extends to rhythm & blues and rock & roll saxophone styles. His relaxed, melodic approach is the blueprint for the iconic R&B sax solo.

Discography, Compositions, and Filmography

Essential Discography:

• The Kansas City Sessions (1938, 1944) – Essential early work.
• Count Basie: The Original American Decca Recordings (1937-1939) – The seminal Basie years.
• Billie Holiday: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol. 1-? (1935-1940s) – The timeless collaborations.
• The Lester Young Story (a multi-volume comprehensive collection on Columbia)
• The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Lester Young (1942-1948) – Crucial small-group sessions from the war and post-war years.
• Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (1952) – A late-career highlight showcasing his enduring talent in a pristine setting.
• Jazz at the Philharmonic series (Various) – Captures his live, battling spirit.

Most Known Compositions:

• “Lester Leaps In” (based on “I Got Rhythm” changes) – His most famous original.
• “DB Blues” (named for the detention barracks he was imprisoned in).
• “Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid” (a later hit).
• “Tickle-Toe” (written for the Basie band).

Filmography:
Young appeared in several short films (“soundies”) with the Basie band and one major Hollywood film:

• Jammin’ the Blues (1944): A stunning, artistic short film directed by Gjon Mili, featuring Young as the central figure. It is a cinematic masterpiece that perfectly captures the atmosphere of a late-night jam session and is Young’s most significant visual legacy.

Lester Young: The Eternal Prez

Lester Young was more than a saxophonist; he was a cultural icon. His language, both musical and verbal, seeped into the fabric of jazz. He was a non-conformist who changed the course of music by trusting his own gentle, singular vision. His story is one of immense artistic triumph and profound personal tragedy, a testament to the beauty that can be created amidst pain.

The sound of Lester Young—that soft, floating, endlessly melodic whisper—remains one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply affecting in all of music. It is the sound of cool, the sound of intelligence, and above all, the sound of a fragile, beautiful soul who gave the world a new way to swing. The President’s term never ended; his sound is still in office, presiding over the heart of jazz itself.

Tracks: 1. Star Dust 00:00 2. It Takes Two To Tango 03:38 3. On The Sunny Side Of The Street 09:45 4. Almost Like Being In Love 13:13 5. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love 16:47 6. There Will Never Be Another You 20:10 7. I’m Confessin’ 23:40 8. Willow Weep For Me 27:24 9. This Can’t Be Love 30:34 10. Can’t We Be Friends? 33:59 11. Tenderly 37:09 12. New D.B. Blues 40:39 13. Jumpin’ At The Woodside 44:00 14. I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me 47:05 15. Oh, Lady, Be Good! 50:19 16. Another Mambo 53:49 17. Come Rain Or Come Shine 57:28 18. Rose Room 01:00:41 19. Somebody Loves Me 01:04:53 20. Touch Me Again (‘Kiss Me Again’) 01:09:52 21. It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) 01:15:09

Credits: Tracks: 1 to 7 Lester Young, Tenor Saxophone ( On All Tracks ) Vocals on track 2 Oscar Peterson, Piano Barney Kessel, Guitar Ray Brown, Bass J.C. Heard, Drums November 28, 1952 Tracks: 8 to 21 Jesse Drakes, Trumpet Gildo Mahones, Piano Gene Ramey, Bass tracks 8 to 15 ( John Ore, tracks 16 to 21 ) Connie Kay, Drums Tracks 8 to 15 ( December 11, 1953 ) Tracks 16 to 21 ( December 10, 1954 )

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