If you think that John Coltrane is the greatest saxophone player, that simply means that you’ve never heard Lester Young. Along with Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, Young is one of the three men that inarguably defined the sound of the tenor sax. In fact, he actually created what is now known as the “cool” style, lithe and legato, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY swung like him. And lyricism? Forget about it! Here we have 4 discs of albums from his mid 30s to his final years, and they are all essential.
The earliest years have him in a small group session, even playing the clarinet at ties, with fellow members of Count Basie, with his licorice stick sounding delightful on “Way Down Yonder In Ne Orleans” and “Pagin’ The Devil” while his tenor paves the way towards bebop on “I Know That You Know”, “Three Little Words” and “I Got Rhythm”. As the years progressed, his airy tone got deeper, shown on a rich read of “These Foolish Things” and a fervent “Blue Lester” with Basie himself at the piano with Freddie Green’s guitar.
Post WWII, his style and tone got even darker, reflected on “DB Blues” and a smoke ringed “These Foolish Things” . Joined in the 1950s with Oscar Peterson’s team of Barney Kessel/g, Ray Brown/b and JC Heard/dr, Prez swings the daylights out of “Just You, Just Me”, Tea For Two” and floats on ballads like “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” and “I’m Confessin’”. During his final years, his tenor almost sounds like a baritone, and comparing latter day versions of “Pennies From Heaven”, ‘Three Little Words” , “Tea For Two” and “(Back Home Again In) Indiana” is harrowing, almost like a sonic version of comparing Van Gogh’s self portraits. Music from the blue period that shows long shadows.