Featured In
ALBUMOn Savoy: Lester YoungLester Young
Albums by Lester Young
ALBUMStandards: Great Songs Great PerformancesLester Young
ALBUMStoryville Presents The A-Z Jazz Encyclopedia-YZLester Young & Zoot Sims
ALBUMVolume 4 (1944)Lester Young
ALBUMPres in EuropeLester Young
ALBUMThe "Kansas City" SessionsLester Young
ALBUMJazz At the Philharmonic: Carnegie BluesLester Young
ALBUMIn Washington D.C. 1956, Vol. 2 (Remastered)Lester Young
ALBUMPresLester Young
ALBUMClassic TenorsColeman Hawkins & Lester Young
ALBUMA Treasure of Immortal JazzmenCharlie Parker & Lester Young
Artist Playlists
Lester Young Essentials
Inventing saxophone slang and style while swinging with Basie.
Lester Young: Deep Cuts
A saxophone summit and original compositions from Prez.
Artist Biography
A man of poetic sensibilities, tenor saxophonist Lester Young was the instrument's most influential figure in the pre-bop era. A featured soloist with the great Count Basie band of the late 1930s, Young scaled the heights on classic recordings of "Taxi War Dance" and "Lester Leaps In."
Although some claim that mental and physical abuse while in the military cast a shadow on his postwar work, there is ample evidence on record of unabated brilliance up until his premature death in 1959. His solo work, characterized by a light sound, asymmetrical, behind-the-beat phrasing, and a startling sense of originality, remains unsurpassed in its depth and delicacy of expression.
Hometown
Woodville, MS, United States
Genre
Jazz