LESTER YOUNG (President of the tenor sax) Jazz History #36
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2022
- Billie Holiday dubbed Lester Young the President of the Tenor Sax, ‘Pres’ for short, and he was certainly one of the most impactful, inspiring a generation of players in his mold. His was a melodic approach, playing across the chords rather than up and down. In his words: “It’s gotta’ be sweetness, you dig?” He was a true jazz ‘character’ with his trademark pork pie hat and an entire lexicon of invented phrases, what today would be called neologisms. Although his health and life took a downturn after an unfortunate stint in the military, Lester left a mark on jazz history that few can equal.
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Of all the saxophonists I've listened to, Lester Young has always been the one whose playing affected me the most, especially on the midtempo and slower tunes, and in his collaborations with Billie Holiday. There's something about the mellowness of his tone and lyrical phrases that just makes me smile. Just a lot of love and tenderness in his approach that's very uniquely him. Other sax greats may have pushed the envelope in terms of technique and approach, but Lester was one of a kind, much like Billie. It's no wonder they were kindred spirits. ❤
Well put.
In the video from 1958, I think Lester was expressing frustration with the drummer.--I think in this case, "titty-boom" meant, ""Don't drop bombs; play lightly, cleanly, and evenly." Lester Young's best extended recording sessions during his last years were with Teddy Wilson in 1956. Lester, who was an alcoholic, had just got out of the hospital and was stronger. "Jazz Giants, '56" is a great album. Norman Granz, who produced the record, saw his opportunity to catch Lester in good health, and he got him together with Teddy Wilson again the next week and recorded another great album. I love these records even more than his recordings from the 1930's. When he was at his best near the end of his life, his sound was less ethereal than when he was young, but it conveys more warmth.
Those who have experienced severe hardship may be able to convey that in their music. The same can be said for Billie Holiday and others. Fragility has its own kind of beauty.
@@chasesanborn This is so true. You can see and hear it so clearly in the famous "Fine and Mellow" video (1956) in which Lester and Billie are together for the last time. His lovely, lyrical solo was the perfect accompaniment to Billie's simple expression of tragic love.
Lester Young was one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, but you can't talk about him without mentioning the one man he always cited as his biggest influence: Frank Trumbauer. Trumbauer is best known today as Bix Beiderbecke's musical partner, but he was a huge musician in his own right and there are plenty of his records (notably "Do I Hear You Say I Love You?" with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" from 1934) on which he sounds amazingly like Young. Young said what he liked most about Trumbauer was "the way he slurred his notes," and one can hear that throughout Young's career. Incidentally Young's phrase "titty-boom" meant the cymbal sound he particularly wanted from his drummers, and the "Mean to Me" clip is beautiful for the way he gathers his energy; faltering audibly at the beginning of the song, he draws strength from somewhere and gives one of his most powerful late performances.
Nobody emerges from nowhere! Here's my video on Bix and Tram: th-cam.com/video/55CzEmQqZ88/w-d-xo.html
Yeah I was transcribing Trambauer's solo from Singing the Blues recently and it struck me how some of the ideas sound similar to Pres. Also, the solo is sophisticated in terms of its wide intervals, almost bebop levels of chromatic approach tones and enclosures, upper extensions, interesting emphasis of certain notes. It's an amazing solo, all in all!
I find it fascinating that Bix and Tram came up with such well-formed interesting solos that are are familar yet very unusual to my post-bebop-saturated ear.
The George Washington Bridge in Manhattan over to Jersey. Makes perfect sense to me LOL. He wanted the drummer to get on sticks and get that ride cymbal going. Pres wants to
get the energy up. Dig how he raises his volume and energy. The Master.
>makes perfect sense...
As one would expect from someone named Bob Blues! :)
Thanks again, Chase. Lester Young was remarkable. I can barely remember these days what the melodies of standards like "I Can't Get Started" or "On the Sunny Side of the Street" or "Stardust" actually sound like -- because Lester's improvised lines on those tunes are so good and so right and so appealing, I end up humming those instead! And besides everything else, he had his own absolutely unique way of playing the clarinet (my instrument), a beautiful way that, to my ears, is the only way to fit the clarinet sound into a modern idiom.
Buddy DeFranco did pretty well, and a few others, but points taken!
@@chasesanborn Chase, you're right of course -- Buddy DeFranco etc. worked so hard to develop the exemplary technique and harmonic & rhythmic sensibilities needed to play modern jazz on the clarinet, and he was often astonishing in the music he could make. (I will sometimes rent a tenor or alto, and while I'm only an average amateur, I find those instruments much easier to make such music on than the clarinet.) I just meant that, to my ear, the results are never quite satisfying, i.e., trying to 'duplicate' Parker's alto approach on a clarinet -- even if done perfectly -- just never sounds quite right to me. I think in his tragically short life, Stan Hasselgard was on the right track (and, in a different way, the couple of Zoot Sims' recordings on clarinet are also very appealing, and Pee Wee Russell very much too, when he wasn't being self-consciously modern)...but in general, I think maybe using Paul Desmond's later style as a model for modern clarinet playing might be best. What I like so much about Lester Young's playing is that it was neither in the Goodman/Shaw/Jimmy Noone mode nor in an obviously modern/early bop mode. Like on the tenor, he was simply making terrific melodic lines. Anyway, excuse the ramble -- I find the topic fascinating, and thank you again for making it so easy and pleasant to listen and learn.
Hi Chase, missed this video until now, but it's wonderful - thanks. Lester Young was such an important part of music history, I think. By the way, we met way back at IAJE, in Toronto probably. You did a clinic with my students from North Sydney Boys' High School. I still have a cherished copy of Jazz Tactics you gave us.
Nice to catch up again!
I played alto for ages. Lester Young is one of my three favorite players. (The other two are Cannonball and Sonny Stitt.)
Your good taste is showing. :)
@@chasesanborn ... My teacher was Bill Trimble, a classical genius. We'd hit Kuumbwa Jazz in Santa Cruz, and guys like Phil Woods would sit with us. Godspeed to Joe Henderson too, who plays Billy Strayhorn more Cool School (Davis, Mulligan, etc.) than big band.
Interesting to contrast Basie’s piano style here with his later minimalism.
I’ve never been a huge Lester Young fan, but while people still talk about the Webster/Blanton Ellington band with awe, Young had more influence than Ben, especially on the early bebop guys. I think all three of the tenor players in Woody’s Four Brothers band were trying to sound like Young.
Lester was one of those jazz musicians (like Charlie Parker after him) whose style was innovative and compelling to the point that a swath of others followed his lead. For more examples of Basie's stylistic range: th-cam.com/video/w_0M10B25J4/w-d-xo.html
Hi Chase! Thanks for this history of jazz episode. I would really like to see the more recent generations learning more about the history of jazz. These videos are helpful
You can't understand the present without some knowledge of the past. The viewership for these is small (especially relative to the number of hours that go into making them), but appreciative. Every person who discovers something new is a step in the right direction.
Thanks. Great look back at a jazz giant.
Gone but not forgotten!
Thanks
Thanks go to Pres, but I'll accept them on his behalf. :)
thank you, great video lesson :) last weeks I have been listening and transcribing some Lester recordings and man, what a fantastic music he made! today I played 'there will never be another you' and the notes and tempo is not that difficult but the sound, the style, the rhythm, the articulation and all other that matters are outstanding :)
HOW you play is more important than WHAT you play.
Lester without a doubt was the first COOL CAT
Dig.
Funny - but fascinating nonetheless - that both Coleman and Lester (each in their own way) were influential - musical and otherwise - on the bebop revolution coming around the corner, while still identified with a previous generation of music.
I suppose everyone sits astride the past and the future in some way, but for those who substantially move the music forward, it may be more obvious or significant.
@@chasesanborn Yes, I agree very much.
i think the bridge of the tune being called george washington references the GWB from NYC to NJ..?
Likely so.
Copyright trolls are finally after you.
It's a given that the Jazz History episodes cannot be monetized because of the copyrighted clips.
@@chasesanborn yes. But it seems many clips are blocked from being uploaded. Honestly, I think you are helping the copyright holder to get more exposure so people can find better quality copy (vinyl, CD, ot even just streaming), but in the eyes of the copyright scanning AI bot, it does not matter. As a result, we got a mediocre learning experience on TH-cam. I am surprised most of your previous clips were not impacted. This is the few sources you can learn jazz history in depth with the original sound tracks and clips. Keep it going!
@@jog7811 This video contains one of the rare clips in this series that is actually blocked--most of the time the copyright holders allow the clips to be shown, but claim the ad revenue (a pittance, more's the pity).
Sad vibes 😂
' P R E Z ' actually ( n o t 'Pres')
It appears in both spellings. Given that it originated as a spoken nickname, I guess the spelling is in the eye of the beholder.