Lester ‘Pres’ Young,

A Bigger than Music Musician.

Willis Lester Young1 came from a musicians family, in Woodville, Mississippi, being

born on August 27, 1909. His father, Willis Handy Young being a prolific music teacher, with

his brother and sister also becoming accomplished musicians had a family band, The Billy

Young Band, with which young Lester toured the Southwest of the United States, until his

departure in 1927. This was due to worries of performing in the deep South, since, during the

time, being a black musician in America was as criminally underpaid as it was criminally

dangerous in some areas. Black performers at the time were supposed to adhere to certain

roles, created stereotypes, and Lester wanted nothing to do with these egregious abuses of

humanity. He is later in his life quoted as saying: ‘‘They want everybody who is a Negro to

be an Uncle Tom or Uncle Remus or Uncle Sam, and I can’t make it.’’

After his departure, he joined numerous successful bands before and after his arrival in

Minneapolis, such as Art Bronson’s Bostonians in the late 1920’s, in Salina Kansas, toured

with King Oliver’s Jazz Band and later joined Walter Page’s Oklahoma City Blue Devils,

these last two being where Louis Armstrong and Count Basie had respectfully previously

played.

Taking up residency briefly in Kansas City, in 1936 2, he played with the Count Basie

Orchestra, and his “rivalry” with Coleman Hawkins was notorious gossip amongst musicians,

since he temporarily replaced the aforementioned Hawkins in Fletcher Henderson’s Band.

1According to biographer Douglas Daniels, in his biography “Lester Leaps in: The Life And Times Of Lester
Young”, despite what many biographers state, Lester’s full name was Willis Lester Young, and not Lester Willis
Young, with the aforementioned author presenting a found marriage certi cate as evidence.
2According to biographer Douglas Daniels, in his biography “Lester Leaps in: The Life And Times Of Lester
Young”, Lester only stayed in Kansas City for a short period, with his primary home being in Minneapolis.

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According to many, his relaxed and casual, introverted nature allowed no competitiveness in

the world of music, so rather than any ill feelings towards Hawkins, Young is said to have

had no issue with the musician, just accepted their differences in style. Mentions are made of

a contest between the two, but Count Basie later discredits these statements in interviews,

saying he remembered no such event, with Lester himself never mentioning this.

Lester Young was remembered as a great musician and influence in the world of Jazz

(forthcoming), but his mastery and individuality oozed out of everything he did, from his

unmistakable pork pie hat to his stylish suits and mannerisms, always with a calm, smooth

and elegant personal demeanour.

He, as Joe Dinerstein put it, in his 1998 essay “The birth of the Cool”; ‘modelled a

strategy of self-presentation that became the dominant emotional style of African American

jazz musicians and several generations of African American men.’

A lot can be said about how Young influenced a whole generation of people, not just

musicians, to fight for the recognition of one’s self-expression, in a time when non-

conformity, slang usage and defiance of social norms where not exactly praised in the overall

society black men found themselves in at the time.

With his unusual slang, he is credited by some as being the first to spread the use of the

word ‘cool’, as he had the habit of employing his own meaning to already existing words,

using them as slang, e.g. ‘Bing and Bob’ to refer to police or ‘a wayback’, meaning an old

girlfriend.

What is undoubtably his creation however, is the ‘cool’ saxophone style he is known for

and that inspired many a musicians who were exposed to his originality.

As Gunther Schuller said: ‘ […] it is an incontrovertible fact that Lester was the most

influential artist after Armstrong and before Charlie Parker.’

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 His musical aesthetic, from my personal standpoint, can best be described as an almost

romantic approach to melodies and a certain mellowness, not only on the tone of the

sideways played tenor, but on his lyricisms and soloing, being unapologetic in his expression

of sentiment and emotion3, sometimes with an employed and implied slowness and stillness

now associated with cool jazz, but that at the time contrasted with the ecstatic and aggressive

style of, for example Coleman Hawkins.

This can be demonstrated by listening to Lester and Coleman playing ‘One O’Clock

Jump’, Lester on the album (1984) ’Jumpin’ at the Savoy Ballroom’ Audio Fidelity™,

recorded in 1950, and Coleman Hawkins on (2013) ‘Jazz Giants’, Copyright Control,

recorded in 1941. In this example we hear Lester’s solo as more sentimental and mellow,

despite the overall speed os the song being faster than the Hawkins version. Coleman’s sax is

more “punchy” and staccato, while Young opts for a more storytelling approach with

generally longer notes, more reminiscent of the old blues the latter grew up on and into.

Another example can be seen by looking at one of the rare times Lester and Coleman

played together, on 1958’s Art Ford Jazz Party, a live broadcasted event on the 25th of

September, towards the end of Lester’s life, where the band, including Willie ’The Lion’

Smith on piano, plays ‘Jumpin’ with Syymphony Sid’4. Here we can see on Lester’s solo a

certain fluidity, and assertiveness without the use of loud volumes when compared to

Hawkins solo, and the latter’s use of embellishments around the target notes are reminiscent

of bebop, nicely contrasting with Lester’s overall more diatonic approach.

3 see: Lester Young (1963)’On The Sunny Side Of The Street’ from the album: ‘Pres Is Blue’.
4A portion of this event can be found on video here.

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 Lester’s sound can be credited to his disciplined study, when young, where he played

six to seven hours a day along with the records of Rudy Wiedoft,, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy

Dorsey and Bix Biederbecke and Frankie Trambauer, with his father’s rigorous supervision.

These latter two being extensively studied and listened to by Lester, with noticeable

similarities to his own sound, namely on the melodic approach and lyricism of the soloing,

with an almost floating quality.

As bandmate Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison describes:5 ‘‘He didn’t put a whole lot of notes in a

solo. He put the right note in the right place at the right time. . . . His timing was perfect.”

This is a critique that, speaking from personal experience, jazz listeners and musicians

alike have given to and heard, when referring to, among others, ’cool jazz’ legend Miles

Davis, which is more of an effect than a coincidence. The rhythmic control and unapologetic

self restraint is shown on both these artist’s work, along with many others, who wore their

souls on their improvisations. The emotional restrain associated with the ‘coolness’ and the

style contrasted perfectly with the bravery of wearing their pain on display in a smooth ballad

riddled with longing notes and sentimental silences.

A good place to look for Lester’s particular style would be on his own compositions.

Take (1939) ‘Lester Leaps in’, Vocalion; with Basie’s Kansas City Seven for example. The

main melody, Lester’s creation, showcases this almost call and response motif, with the gaps

in between being an integral part of what makes this melody work.

His solo starts from the melody, embellishing it by removing a few notes, followed by a

roughly bar long pause and a rapid and fluid cadency of notes, all of these harmonically

contextualised. This rhythmic motif is repeated twice before being modified to a smaller

5In: Büchmann-Møller; Frank; (1990) ‘You Just Fight For Your Life: The Story Of Lester Young’ Greenwood Publishing
Group.

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pause and a longer succession of notes. The use of space in this solo is in my opinion, just as

much of an example of Lester’s unique style; as just the first eight bars of it display a certain

relaxed assertiveness, right on top, sometimes ahead of the beat, very characteristic of him; as

is the melody.

Filling space with emptiness, Lester and later Davis would not always emphasise the

beat, relying on a tightly run rhythm section to keep the groove.

This evolved, in Lester’s case, by being exposed to Count Basie’s legendary “All

American Rhythm Section”, consisting of himself (Basie), Freddie Green on guitar, Philly Jo

Jones on drums and Walter Page on Bass.

Such a stellar rhythm section kept the beat and accents in such a steady reliable way

that it inspired the soloists to deviate from the accents and explore their individual strengths,

which was perfect for Lester’s interweaving melodies and rhythmic patterns.

A personal favourite example of this very rhythm section keeping the pulse religiously

is on the record: ‘Shoe Shine Boy’, recorded in 1936, which just so happens to be Lester

Young’s very first recording, under the name “Jones-Smith Inc. of Kansas City”, for

Columbia/Vocalion, since Basie had already signed with Decca Records. This 78rpm version

features Walter page and Philly Jo Jones laying the unshakable foundations under the playful

melody that give a platform for Lester to take off, and a solid footing to land on. Even when

Lester, Carl Smith (trumpet) and Basie are trading between each other, towards the end of the

record, Walter and Jo Jones solidify their importance by keeping the steady, fast pace, now

with their presence more noticeable due to the trades occurring.

Lester Young had an overwhelming impact on jazz generations to come, but perhaps

had just as much of an effect on the global idolatry of the ‘cool jazz man’ figure we now

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associate with the genre. Same could be said about his approach to the genre we are so

familiar with, but that would certainly be very different were it not for a pork pie hat wearing

Lady Lester, as he would’ve said.

Lester passed away on the 15th of March, 1959, in Paris, a week after recording his last

album, due to complications arising from his heavy drinking. The world lost a musician but

gained a legend.

Ivey-Divey

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 Works Cited:

Books/ Lectures

- Büchmann-Møller; Frank; (1990) ‘You Just Fight For Your Life: The Story Of Lester

Young’ Greenwood Publishing Group.

- Douglas Daniels, ‘Lester Leaps in: The Life And Times Of Lester Young’, University Of

California Television (2002) online lecture; Book: Douglas Henry Daniels; ‘Lester Leaps

in: The Life And Times Of Lester Young’, Beacon Press (2003).

- Gunther Schuller, (1989) The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930 - 1945

- Joel Dinerstein, ‘The Origins of Cool in Postwar America’ (2017), University of Chicago

Press

- Music/Videos

- Art Ford Jazz Party (1958)

- Coleman Hawkins ‘One O’Clock Jump’ (2013) ‘Jazz Giants’, Copyright Control

- Lester Young (1962) ‘Pres Is Blue’. Charlie Parker Records

- Lester Young, ’One O’Clock Jump’ (1984) ’Jumpin’ at the Savoy Ballroom’ Audio

Fidelity™

- Paris Interviews

- Kansas City Seven, (1939) ‘Lester Leaps in’, Vocalion

- Jones-Smith Inc. of Kansas City, (1936) ‘Shoe Shine Boy’, Columbia/Vocalion

- Billie Holiday (1957) ‘Fine and Mellow’ , ‘The Sound Of Jazz’, CBS

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