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A new edition of the musical biography of jazz tenor saxophonist Lester Young, with a revised discography
Book Synopsis Lester Young by : Lewis Porter
Download or read book Lester Young written by Lewis Porter and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new edition of the musical biography of jazz tenor saxophonist Lester Young, with a revised discography
Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound. He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players. In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band. His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era. But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison. Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing. With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure. This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.
Book Synopsis Being Prez by : Dave Gelly
Download or read book Being Prez written by Dave Gelly and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound. He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players. In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band. His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era. But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison. Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing. With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure. This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.
A poetic meditation on the last year of tenor saxophonist Lester Young's life, of joyful playing and self-willed dying. In 1959, at the age of fifty, jazz greaet Lester Young--a lyrical player, his airy tone haunted by a breathy melancholy--died alone in the Arvin Hotel in Manhattan. As Meltzer explains, "No Eyes is a book about death, and Young sits in for a metaphor for the artist living and dying for and with his art." An "inside" biography, No Eyes is a brilliant jazz-world evocation, composed in free verse whose flow is arrested to capture significant moments, Meltzer creates a layered narrative of vivid colors and textures, the material facts of Young's story dissolving into internalized, projected truths of erotic understanding and spiritual sympathy with the "sweet and isolate lovely other."
Book Synopsis No Eyes by : David Meltzer
Download or read book No Eyes written by David Meltzer and published by David R. Godine Publisher. This book was released on 2000 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A poetic meditation on the last year of tenor saxophonist Lester Young's life, of joyful playing and self-willed dying. In 1959, at the age of fifty, jazz greaet Lester Young--a lyrical player, his airy tone haunted by a breathy melancholy--died alone in the Arvin Hotel in Manhattan. As Meltzer explains, "No Eyes is a book about death, and Young sits in for a metaphor for the artist living and dying for and with his art." An "inside" biography, No Eyes is a brilliant jazz-world evocation, composed in free verse whose flow is arrested to capture significant moments, Meltzer creates a layered narrative of vivid colors and textures, the material facts of Young's story dissolving into internalized, projected truths of erotic understanding and spiritual sympathy with the "sweet and isolate lovely other."
(Artist Transcriptions). Nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday (short for President of the Tenor Sax), jazz giant Lester Young is considered to be one of the most important and influential saxophonists of all time. This great tribute folio transcribes 30 of his finest standards, together with a bio and discography. Includes: Blue Lester * Cherokee * Doggin' Around * Honeysuckle Rose * I Can't Get Started with You * Indiana * Jumpin' with Symphony Sid * Lester Leaps In * Oh, Lady Be Good! * Sometimes I'm Happy * These Foolish Things * Twelfth Street Rag * You Can Depend on Me * more.
Book Synopsis The Lester Young Collection (Songbook) by : Lester Young
Download or read book The Lester Young Collection (Songbook) written by Lester Young and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2004-05-01 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Artist Transcriptions). Nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday (short for President of the Tenor Sax), jazz giant Lester Young is considered to be one of the most important and influential saxophonists of all time. This great tribute folio transcribes 30 of his finest standards, together with a bio and discography. Includes: Blue Lester * Cherokee * Doggin' Around * Honeysuckle Rose * I Can't Get Started with You * Indiana * Jumpin' with Symphony Sid * Lester Leaps In * Oh, Lady Be Good! * Sometimes I'm Happy * These Foolish Things * Twelfth Street Rag * You Can Depend on Me * more.
A Danish musician here presents the most accurate, comprehensive work on a major figure in American jazz: Lester Willis Young (1909-1959), better known as `Pres' or `Prez,' from the nickname `President' given to him by Billie Holiday. Based on interviews with Young's colleagues and friends, and often presenting his own vulgar scatological words, the book faithfully chronicles the ups and downs of his life and career. Despite his alcoholism, drug addiction, syphillis, epilepsy, and emotional disturbances, Young became the outstanding tenor saxophonist of his time and a dominant, profound influence on the development of bop and progressive (`cool') jazz in the 1940s. His solos with the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Count Basie and his collaboration with Holiday are recalled in this outstanding biography. Publishers Weekly [This is] the big, warm book about Lester Young that swing lovers have been waiting for, written by a Danish jazz musician. This is a rich authentic life of one of the three greatest tenor players who ever lived, much of it told in vivid quotation from eyewitnesses. Kirkus this is the first thoroughgoing biography of one of America's greatest musicians; its fascination for at least jazz aficionados is magnetic....Along with Porter's magisterial work of musical analysis, Lester Young, this is the book to have on the most influential jazzman between Armstrong and Parker. Booklist A fascinating and invaluable compilation of raw material...a straightforward, accurate narrative. The New York Times By far the most comprehensive work available on the extraordinary Lester Young, You Just Fight For Your Life is the jazz enthusiast's dream come true. Meticulously researched and teeming with previously unpublished information, this book accurately recreates the life and character of one of the world's greatest jazz musicians. Historian Frank Buchmann-Moller crafts a full length biography exclusively for Lester Young fans focusing on Young's philosophy of life, his exceptional ability as a bandleader, and his sharp wit. Through the examination of army psychiatric reports, interviews with fellow musicians, and concert reviews, You Just Fight For Your Life tells the story of this gifted yet troubled musician. Beginning with his childhood, the book accurately chronicles the many bands in which Lester Young played prior to joining Count Basie in 1936. Through countless interviews with Young's peers, the book recounts the Basie years and the spicy stories of life on the road. The author includes new information about Young's own first band and follows this with details of his military experience. The final chapters deal with his years as featured soloist. Two appendices list all of Young's jobs from 1919-59 and his own bands chronologically as well as all musicians with whom he played. Now Lester Young followers have a full length biography valuable not only as a reference but for its recreation of a fascinating life.
Book Synopsis You Just Fight for Your Life by : Frank Büchmann-Møller
Download or read book You Just Fight for Your Life written by Frank Büchmann-Møller and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1990-01-22 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Danish musician here presents the most accurate, comprehensive work on a major figure in American jazz: Lester Willis Young (1909-1959), better known as `Pres' or `Prez,' from the nickname `President' given to him by Billie Holiday. Based on interviews with Young's colleagues and friends, and often presenting his own vulgar scatological words, the book faithfully chronicles the ups and downs of his life and career. Despite his alcoholism, drug addiction, syphillis, epilepsy, and emotional disturbances, Young became the outstanding tenor saxophonist of his time and a dominant, profound influence on the development of bop and progressive (`cool') jazz in the 1940s. His solos with the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Count Basie and his collaboration with Holiday are recalled in this outstanding biography. Publishers Weekly [This is] the big, warm book about Lester Young that swing lovers have been waiting for, written by a Danish jazz musician. This is a rich authentic life of one of the three greatest tenor players who ever lived, much of it told in vivid quotation from eyewitnesses. Kirkus this is the first thoroughgoing biography of one of America's greatest musicians; its fascination for at least jazz aficionados is magnetic....Along with Porter's magisterial work of musical analysis, Lester Young, this is the book to have on the most influential jazzman between Armstrong and Parker. Booklist A fascinating and invaluable compilation of raw material...a straightforward, accurate narrative. The New York Times By far the most comprehensive work available on the extraordinary Lester Young, You Just Fight For Your Life is the jazz enthusiast's dream come true. Meticulously researched and teeming with previously unpublished information, this book accurately recreates the life and character of one of the world's greatest jazz musicians. Historian Frank Buchmann-Moller crafts a full length biography exclusively for Lester Young fans focusing on Young's philosophy of life, his exceptional ability as a bandleader, and his sharp wit. Through the examination of army psychiatric reports, interviews with fellow musicians, and concert reviews, You Just Fight For Your Life tells the story of this gifted yet troubled musician. Beginning with his childhood, the book accurately chronicles the many bands in which Lester Young played prior to joining Count Basie in 1936. Through countless interviews with Young's peers, the book recounts the Basie years and the spicy stories of life on the road. The author includes new information about Young's own first band and follows this with details of his military experience. The final chapters deal with his years as featured soloist. Two appendices list all of Young's jobs from 1919-59 and his own bands chronologically as well as all musicians with whom he played. Now Lester Young followers have a full length biography valuable not only as a reference but for its recreation of a fascinating life.
Tenor-saxophonist Lester Young (1909-1959) was the most original jazz improviser of the era between Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. This book retrieves long out-of-print biographical essays and musical studies, a few never before published, as well as a collection of Young's interviews and a selection of rare photographs.
Book Synopsis LESTER YOUNG RDR PB by : Lewis Porter
Download or read book LESTER YOUNG RDR PB written by Lewis Porter and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1991-10-17 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tenor-saxophonist Lester Young (1909-1959) was the most original jazz improviser of the era between Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. This book retrieves long out-of-print biographical essays and musical studies, a few never before published, as well as a collection of Young's interviews and a selection of rare photographs.
Book Synopsis Pres:the Story of Lester Young (c) by : Luc Delannoy
Download or read book Pres:the Story of Lester Young (c) written by Luc Delannoy and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
He was jazz's first hipster. He performed in sunglasses and coined and popularized phrases like "that's cool" and "you dig?" He always wore a suit and his trademark porkpie hat. He influenced everyone from B. B. King to Stan Getz to Allen Ginsberg, creating a lyrical style of playing that forever changed the sound of the tenor saxophone. In this groundbreaking biography of Lester Young (1909-1959), historian Douglas Daniels brings to life the man and his world, and corrects a number of misconceptions. Even though others have identified Young as a Kansas City musician, Daniels traces his roots to the blues of Louisiana and his early years traveling with his father's band and the legendary Oklahoma City Blue Devils. Later we see the jazz culture of New York in the early 1940s, when Young was launched to national and international fame with the Count Basie Orchestra and began to accompany his close friend Billie Holiday. After a year spent in an Army prison on a conviction for marijuana use, Young made changes in his music but never lost his sensitivity or soul. The first ever to gain access to Young's family and many musicians who performed with him, Daniels reconstructs the world in which Young lived and played: the racism that he and other black musicians faced, the feeling of home and family that they created together on the road, and what his music meant to black audiences. Young emerges as a kind friend, a loving parent, and a gentle and sensitive man who had, in the words of Reginald Scott, "the saddest eyes I ever saw
Book Synopsis Lester Leaps In by : Douglas H. Daniels
Download or read book Lester Leaps In written by Douglas H. Daniels and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2003-02-17 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was jazz's first hipster. He performed in sunglasses and coined and popularized phrases like "that's cool" and "you dig?" He always wore a suit and his trademark porkpie hat. He influenced everyone from B. B. King to Stan Getz to Allen Ginsberg, creating a lyrical style of playing that forever changed the sound of the tenor saxophone. In this groundbreaking biography of Lester Young (1909-1959), historian Douglas Daniels brings to life the man and his world, and corrects a number of misconceptions. Even though others have identified Young as a Kansas City musician, Daniels traces his roots to the blues of Louisiana and his early years traveling with his father's band and the legendary Oklahoma City Blue Devils. Later we see the jazz culture of New York in the early 1940s, when Young was launched to national and international fame with the Count Basie Orchestra and began to accompany his close friend Billie Holiday. After a year spent in an Army prison on a conviction for marijuana use, Young made changes in his music but never lost his sensitivity or soul. The first ever to gain access to Young's family and many musicians who performed with him, Daniels reconstructs the world in which Young lived and played: the racism that he and other black musicians faced, the feeling of home and family that they created together on the road, and what his music meant to black audiences. Young emerges as a kind friend, a loving parent, and a gentle and sensitive man who had, in the words of Reginald Scott, "the saddest eyes I ever saw
Lester Young, the legendary tenor sax player known as Pres, created earth-shattering music for nearly 25 years. Now for the first time, the many Presophiles around the globe and kindred jazz aficionados will have access to a complete guide to Young's recorded legacy in this exhaustive discography. This companion volume to Buchmann-Moller's You Just Fight for Your Life, the longest and most accurate biography of Young's life to date, details 251 recording sessions. Listed chronologically, each session has its own introduction that contains title, personnel, date and place of recording, record label, discographical information with matrix numbers, the number of the newest or most complete release of the actual session, and, where applicable, whether recording is from concert, radio, or TV. The solography lists every solo played by Young, published or unpublished, and contains some newly discovered items including critical assessments of the solos, in many cases illustrated by the author's own transcriptions of the improvisations. Each solo analysis contains song title, form, and the number of takes followed by a listing of the personnel and individual soloists. Included here are notations for over 80 great Young solos and excerpts for many more written for a B flat instrument so that musicians can play along with their Lester Young recordings. Access to musicians and song titles is facilitated by a song index and a name index that keys items to the numbered sessions, and an index of the transcribed solos refer to the page(s) where the solos are to be found. Musicians, fans, students, and scholars of music and jazz, as well as the general reader with an interest in jazz will find You Got to be Original, Man! with its complete solography and companion biography, You Just Fight for Your Life to be the most comprehensive introduction of the man and his music available.
Book Synopsis You Got to Be Original, Man! by : Frank Büchmann-Møller
Download or read book You Got to Be Original, Man! written by Frank Büchmann-Møller and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1990-02-21 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lester Young, the legendary tenor sax player known as Pres, created earth-shattering music for nearly 25 years. Now for the first time, the many Presophiles around the globe and kindred jazz aficionados will have access to a complete guide to Young's recorded legacy in this exhaustive discography. This companion volume to Buchmann-Moller's You Just Fight for Your Life, the longest and most accurate biography of Young's life to date, details 251 recording sessions. Listed chronologically, each session has its own introduction that contains title, personnel, date and place of recording, record label, discographical information with matrix numbers, the number of the newest or most complete release of the actual session, and, where applicable, whether recording is from concert, radio, or TV. The solography lists every solo played by Young, published or unpublished, and contains some newly discovered items including critical assessments of the solos, in many cases illustrated by the author's own transcriptions of the improvisations. Each solo analysis contains song title, form, and the number of takes followed by a listing of the personnel and individual soloists. Included here are notations for over 80 great Young solos and excerpts for many more written for a B flat instrument so that musicians can play along with their Lester Young recordings. Access to musicians and song titles is facilitated by a song index and a name index that keys items to the numbered sessions, and an index of the transcribed solos refer to the page(s) where the solos are to be found. Musicians, fans, students, and scholars of music and jazz, as well as the general reader with an interest in jazz will find You Got to be Original, Man! with its complete solography and companion biography, You Just Fight for Your Life to be the most comprehensive introduction of the man and his music available.
Cool. It was a new word and a new way to be, and in a single generation, it became the supreme compliment of American culture. The Origins of Cool in Postwar America uncovers the hidden history of this concept and its new set of codes that came to define a global attitude and style. As Joel Dinerstein reveals in this dynamic book, cool began as a stylish defiance of racism, a challenge to suppressed sexuality, a philosophy of individual rebellion, and a youthful search for social change. Through eye-opening portraits of iconic figures, Dinerstein illuminates the cultural connections and artistic innovations among Lester Young, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Marlon Brando, and James Dean, among others. We eavesdrop on conversations among Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Miles Davis, and on a forgotten debate between Lorraine Hansberry and Norman Mailer over the "white Negro" and black cool. We come to understand how the cool worlds of Beat writers and Method actors emerged from the intersections of film noir, jazz, and existentialism. Out of this mix, Dinerstein sketches nuanced definitions of cool that unite concepts from African-American and Euro-American culture: the stylish stoicism of the ethical rebel loner; the relaxed intensity of the improvising jazz musician; the effortless, physical grace of the Method actor. To be cool is not to be hip and to be hot is definitely not to be cool. This is the first work to trace the history of cool during the Cold War by exploring the intersections of film noir, jazz, existential literature, Method acting, blues, and rock and roll. Dinerstein reveals that they came together to create something completely new—and that something is cool.
Book Synopsis The Origins of Cool in Postwar America by : Joel Dinerstein
Download or read book The Origins of Cool in Postwar America written by Joel Dinerstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-09-26 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cool. It was a new word and a new way to be, and in a single generation, it became the supreme compliment of American culture. The Origins of Cool in Postwar America uncovers the hidden history of this concept and its new set of codes that came to define a global attitude and style. As Joel Dinerstein reveals in this dynamic book, cool began as a stylish defiance of racism, a challenge to suppressed sexuality, a philosophy of individual rebellion, and a youthful search for social change. Through eye-opening portraits of iconic figures, Dinerstein illuminates the cultural connections and artistic innovations among Lester Young, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Marlon Brando, and James Dean, among others. We eavesdrop on conversations among Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Miles Davis, and on a forgotten debate between Lorraine Hansberry and Norman Mailer over the "white Negro" and black cool. We come to understand how the cool worlds of Beat writers and Method actors emerged from the intersections of film noir, jazz, and existentialism. Out of this mix, Dinerstein sketches nuanced definitions of cool that unite concepts from African-American and Euro-American culture: the stylish stoicism of the ethical rebel loner; the relaxed intensity of the improvising jazz musician; the effortless, physical grace of the Method actor. To be cool is not to be hip and to be hot is definitely not to be cool. This is the first work to trace the history of cool during the Cold War by exploring the intersections of film noir, jazz, existential literature, Method acting, blues, and rock and roll. Dinerstein reveals that they came together to create something completely new—and that something is cool.