Thursday, April 22, 2010

Classics 1325: Lester Young 1951-52




Classics 1325
Lester Young
1951-1952
Release Date: 2004
Rating: B

Other notable musicians in this CD: John Lewis, Jo Jones, Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel.

label(s): Verve , Norgran
Number of sessions: 3
Unissued materials: None
Track Highlights: I Can't Get Started, These Foolish Things, Slow Motion Blues, A Foggy Day.
Other Ratings: Allmusic 3 (from 5)

Other issue or reissues:
Lester Young & the Piano Giants (Verve, 835316-2)
Masters of Jazz: Lester Young (Storyville, 4107)
The President Plays (Verve, 521451-2)
Verve Jazz Masters 30 (Verve, 521859-2)

About the period: Lester at the top. Blowing like no other cat in the whole history of jazz.

The Album: It's a great set, but unfortunately loaded with familiar materials that have been available so far, in countless reissues, especially the recording date with Oscar Peterson Trio. Some people talks of better sound quality in Classics edition, than Verve's own luxury release, but even that, don't make this CD an essential entry in Classic series. The first 9 tracks, from a John Lewis session, are more scarce items in Lester's catalog.
Thom Jurek in his short review of the album indicates the contrast of Lewis and Peterson's piano styles: "while Lewis is clearly a more delicate classicist, his approach swings a bit harder because he's not as interested in pursuing the role of being soloist with Young as much as he is in leading the ensemble." -- Ehsan Khoshbakht


Details:

Lester Young Quartet
Lester Young (ts), John Lewis (p), Gene Ramey (b), Jo Jones (d)

  • New York, January 16, 1951

486-3 Frenesi
487-2 Pete's cafe
488-1 Little Pee blues

Lester Young Quartet
Lester Young (ts), John Lewis (p), Gene Ramey (b), Jo Jones (d)

  • New York, March 8, 1951
529-3 A foggy day
530-1 In a little Spanish town [T'was on a night like this]
531-1 Let's fall in love
532-2 Down `n' Adam
533-1 Lester swings
534-1 Slow motion blues

Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio
Lester Young (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b), J.C. Heard (d)

  • New York, November 28, 1952
883-2 Ad lib blues
884-1 Just you, just me
885-1 Tea for two
886-1 Indiana
887-1 These foolish things (remind me of you)
888-2 I can't get started (with you)
889-1 Star dust
890-1 (It) Takes two to tango [Lester sings in this track!]
891-2 On the sunny side of the street
892-3 Almost like being in love

Total Time: 80 mins. (approximately)

(Available via Amazon as audio CD and MP3)

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