Real name: Lester Willis Young
Born: Aug 27, 1909 in Woodville, MS
Died: Mar 15, 1959 in New York, NY
Genres: Jazz
Styles: Mainstream Jazz, Swing, Cool
Instruments: Sax (Tenor), Clarinet

Lester Young was one of the true jazz giants, a tenor saxophonist who came up with a completely different conception in which to play his horn, floating over bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. A non-conformist, Young (nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday) had the ironic experience in the 1950s of hearing many young tenors try to sound exactly like him!

Although he spent his earliest days near New Orleans, Lester Young lived in Minneapolis by 1920, playing in a legendary family band. He studied violin, trumpet and drums, starting on alto at age 13. Because he refused to tour in the South, Young left home in 1927 and instead toured with Art Bronson's Bostonians, switching to tenor. He was back with the family band in 1929 and then freelanced for a few years, playing with Walter Page's Blue Devils (1930), Eddie Barefield in 1931, back with the Blue Devils during 1932-33, Bennie Moten and King Oliver (1933). He was with Count Basie for the first time in 1934 but left to replace Coleman Hawkins with Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately it was expected that Young would try to emulate Hawk and his laidback sound angered Henderson's sidemen, resulting in Young not lasting long. After a tour with Andy Kirk and a few brief jobs, Lester Young was back with Basie in 1936, just in time to star with the band as they headed East.

Pres made history during his years with Basie, not only participating on Count's record dates but starring with Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson on a series of classic small group sessions. In addition on his rare recordings on clarinet with Basie and the Kansas City Six, Young displayed a very original cool sound that almost sounded like altoist Paul Desmond in the 1950s. After leaving Count in 1940, Young's career became a bit aimless, not capitalizing on his fame in the jazz world. He co-led a low-profile band with his brother drummer Lee Young in Los Angeles until rejoining Basie in December 1943. Young had a happy nine months back with the band, recorded a memorable quartet session with bassist Slam Stewart and starred in the short film Jammin' the Blues before he was drafted. His experiences dealing with racism in the military were horrifying, affecting his mental state of mind for the remainder of his life.

Although many critics have written that Lester Young never sounded as good after getting out of the military, despite erratic health he actually was at his prime in the mid-to-late '40s. He toured (and was well-paid by Norman Granz) with Jazz at the Philharmonic on-and-off through the '40s and '50s, made a wonderful series of recordings for Aladdin and worked steadily as a single. Young also adopted his style well to bebop (which he had helped pave the way for in the 1930s). But mentally he was suffering, building a wall between himself and the outside world and inventing his own colorful vocabulary. Although many of his recordings in the 1950s were excellent (showing a greater emotional depth than in his earlier days), Young was bothered by the fact that some of his White imitators were making much more money than he was. He drank huge amounts of liquor and nearly stopped eating with predictable results. 1956's Jazz Giants album found him in peak form as did a well-documented engagement in Washington, D.C. with a quartet and a last reunion with Count Basie at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. But for the 1957 telecast The Sound of Jazz Young mostly played sitting down (although he stole the show with an emotional one-chorus blues solo played to Billie Holiday). After becoming ill in Paris in early 1959, Lester Young came home and essentially drank himself to death. Nearly 40 years after his death, Pres is still considered (along with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane) one of the three most important tenor saxophonists of all time.

— Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)

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Lester Young (Lester Willis Young) родился 7 августа 1909 года, умер 15 марта 1959 года.

Он был одним из настоящих мастеров раннего джаза, разработавшим полностью самостоятельный стиль игры, отличный от господствовавшей тогда манеры Коулмана Хукинса (Coleman Hawkins).

Ранние дни Лестер провел в Нью-Орлеане, а к 1920 году жил в Миннеаполисе и играл в семейном оркестре. Он учался игре на скрипке, трубе и ударных, а позднее перешел на тенор-саксофон.

Он играл с "Blue Devils" Уолтера Пейджа в начале 30-х годов, Бенни Мотеном и Кингом Оливером (King Oliver) в 1933.
Он первый раз играл с Каунтом Бэйси (Count Basie) в 1934, но уехал, чтобы заменить Коулмана Хукинса (Coleman Hawkins) в оркестре Флетчера Хендерсона (Fletcher Henderson).

К сожалению, Хендерсон, как вскоре выяснилось, ожидал, от Янга подражания манере игры Хукинса, в результате чего Лестер надолго в оркестре не задержался.

После турне с Энди Кирком и нескольких непродолжительных работ в 1936 году он возвращается к Каунту Бэйси. Он работает с Билли Холидей (Billie Holiday) и Тедди Уилсоном (Teddy Wilson).

Уход из оркестра Каунта Бэйси в 1940 году не привел к подъему в его карьере. Некоторое время он играл в Лос-Анджелесе, в бэнде, которым руководил его брат, ударник Ли Янг.

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ЛЕСТЕР ЯНГ. 1909-1959, в течение своей карьеры тенор-саксофониста получил прозвище «Президент» («През»). Родился в Вудвилле (шт. Миссисипи), с 10 лет начал играть на ударных, а в 13 — перешел на саксофон. К тому времени он уже жил в Миннеаполисе, его кумиром был Фрэнк Трамбауэр, от которого произошло необычное звучание тенора Янга. В первой половине 30-х он играл в оркестрах на Среднем Западе, в 1936-40 гг. был в составе Каунта Бэйси. Тогда на джазовых тенористов он оказал не меньшее влияние, чем Коулмен Хокинс. В остальные годы жизни Янг руководил и записывался либо со своими собственными комбо, либо работал в составе «Джаз Филармоник» Нормана Гранца, включая поездки в Европу. Выступал с оркестром Каунта Бэйси на джаз-фестивале в Нью-порте (июль 1957 г.), но у него уже было плохое здоровье, и после ангажементов в парижском клубе «Блю Ноут» он умер в Нью-Йорке 15 марта 1959 г. Янг символизировал собой переход от «хот-джаза» к «кул-джазу». Он также был автором ряда композиций, написанных им для Каунта Бэйси, Сида Торина и Нормана Гранца.

Nat Shapiro, Nat Hentoff. “Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya”. Rinehart & Co Inc. New York. 1955