Lester Young - The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve [8CD Box Set] (1999) "Reload"

With his airy, vibratoless tone and sophisticated harmonic imagination, Lester Young (1909-59) was arguably the most influential tenor saxophonist after Coleman Hawkins. As the star in Count Basie's big band and Billie Holiday's favorite soloist, Young's breezy solos, along with his patented porkpie hat and unique hipster jargon, affected legions of musicians. This 8-CD compilation marks the 90th anniversary of Young's birth and contains all of the recordings he made for producer Norman Granz from 1946 to 1959, the last 13 years of Young's life. This collection aurally illustrates his supernatural ability to enliven the most familiar pop tunes and rise above his own pharmaceutically challenged physical state to create magic. The keys to Young's music making is his emphasis on knowing the lyrics to songs and on telling a story, delivering a melodic solo that communicates as it innovates.

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Lester Young - The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve [8CD Box Set] (1999) "Reload"

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Composed primarily of small combos, these tracks' themes are set by the piano players. Nat King Cole's walking bass lines and drummer Buddy Rich's pepperings cushion Young's Icarusian flights on "I Cover the Waterfront," "The Man I Love," and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams." On "I Found a New Baby" Young's delivery previews the bebop of Charlie Parker and on "Too Marvelous for Words" Young's subtones echo the long, tall sounds of Dexter Gordon. A quartet with pianist John Lewis, drummer and Basie bandmate Jo Jones, and bassist Gene Ramey offers similar results with Young's poetic versions of the riff tune "Neenah" and "Three Little Words," with Lewis's telepathic comping. Oscar Peterson's supersonic style, Barney Kessel's guitar, bassist Ray Brown, and percussionist J.C. Heard light a fire under Young on the down-home "Ad Lib Blues" and "It Takes Two to Tango"–with Young's hilarious vocal. With another quintet featuring Gildo Mahones at the keys and Connie Kay at the traps, Young revisits his days with Count Basie on the festive "Jumpin' at the Woodside." Another Basie bandmate, Harry "Sweets" Edison, lends his territory-toned chops to the hit "One O'Clock Jump." On "You Can Depend on Me" and "Gigantic Blues" Roy Eldridge's hot trumpet and Vic Dickenson's muscular trombone provide the perfect counterpoint to Young's ethereal excursions. The two takes of "St. Tropez" are the only recordings with Young on clarinet, and the leader delves into Latin jazz on "Frenesi," "In a Little Spanish Town," and "Another Mambo."
By the time he made his last sessions in Paris in 1959 with drummer Kenny Clarke and pianist Rene Urtreger, Young had lost his technical luster, but he gained a deep spiritual presence, as evidenced by the haunting takes on "I Cover the Waterfront" and "Oh, Lady, Be Good." The noted jazz author John Chilton's biographical essay, along with Harry "Sweets" Edison's loving memoir, Dave Gelly's musicological analysis, and two recorded interviews with Young are detailed, profane, and informative. But Bryan Koniarz's "Hipster's Dictionary" of Young's slang steals the show. From the Lestorian lexicon we get words like "Far Out" for guitarist Slim Gaillard, "little claps" for applause, and "Lady Day" for Billie Holiday, who in turn named the great saxophonist "Prez," for he was the commander in chief of jazz.

–Eugene Holley Jr.

cd1
1 "Back to the Land"
2 "I Cover the Waterfront - 12'-LP take"
3 "I Cover the Waterfront - master take"
4 "Somebody Loves Me"
5 "I've Found a New Baby"
6 "The Man I Love"
7 "Peg o' My Heart"
8 "I Want to Be Happy"
9 "Mean to Me"
10 "Too Marvelous for Words - 78-rpm take"
11 "Too Marvelous for Words - LP take"
12 "'Deed I Do"
13 "Encore"
14 "Polka Dots and Moonbeams"
15 "Up 'n' Adam"
16 "Three Little Words"
17 "Count Every Star - master take"
18 "Count Every Star"
19 "It All Depends on You"
20 "Neenah - alternative take"
21 "Neenah - alternative take"
22 "Neenah - master take"



cd2
1 "Jeepers Creepers"
2 "Thou Swell"
3 "Thou Swell"
4 "September in the Rain"
5 "Undercover Girl Blues"
6 "Frenesi"
7 "Pete's Cafe"
8 "Little Pee Blues"
9 "Foggy Day"
10 "In a Little Spanish Town"
11 "Let's Fall in Love"
12 "Down 'N' Adam"
13 "Lester Swings"
14 "Slow Motion Blues"
15 "Ad Lib Blues"
16 "Just You, Just Me"
17 "Tea for Two"
18 "Back Home Again In) Indiana"
19 "These Foolish Things"
20 "I Can't Get Started"



cd3
1 "Star Dust"
2 "It Takes Two to Tango"
3 "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
4 "Almost Like Being in Love"
5 "I Can't Give You Anything but Love"
6 "There Will Never Be Another You"
7 "I'm Confessin'"
8 "Willow Weep for Me"
9 "This Can't Be Love"
10 "Can't We Be Friends?"
11 "Tenderly"
12 "New D. B. Blues"
13 "Jumpin' at the Woodside"
14 "I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me"
15 "Oh, Lady, Be Good!"
16 "Another Mambo"
17 "Come Rain or Come Shine"
18 "Rose Room"
19 "Somebody Loves Me"
20 "Touch Me Again"
21 "It Don't Mean a Thing (if It Ain't Got That Swing)"



cd4
1 "I'm in the Mood for Love"
2 "Big Top Blues"
3 "Mean to Me"
4 "That's All - alternative take"
5 "That's All - master take"
6 "Red Boy Blues"
7 "Pennies from Heaven"
8 "She's Funny That Way - breakdown"
9 "She's Funny That Way - master take"
10 "One O'Clock Jump"
11 "It's The Talk of the Town"
12 "I've Found a New Baby"
13 "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan"



cd5
1 "I Didn't Know What Time It Was"
2 "Gigantic Blues"
3 "This Year's Kisses"
4 "You Can Depend on Me"
5 "Pres Returns"
6 "Prisoner of Love"
7 "Taking a Chance on Love"
8 "All of Me"
9 "Louise"
10 "Love Is Here to Stay"
11 "Love Me or Leave Me"



cd6
1 "St. Tropez - alternative take"
2 "St. Tropez - master take"
3 "Flic"
4 "Ballad Medley - A Ghost of a Chance/I Cover the Waterfront"
5 "Love Is Here to Stay"
6 "Sunday - rejected version"
7 "Perdido - incomplete take"
8 "Waldorf Blues - alternative take"
9 "Waldorf Blues - master take"
10 "Sunday - master take"
11 "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me - alternative take"



cd7
1 "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me"
2 "Romping"
3 "Gypsy in My Soul"
4 "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"
5 "They Can't Take That Away from Me"
6 "Salute to Benny"
7 "Ballad Medley: The Very Thought of You/I Want a Little Girl"
8 "Mean to Me"
9 "I Didn't Know What Time It Was"
10 "Oh Lady Be Good"
11 "Almost Like Being in Love"
12 "Three Little Words"
13 "I Cover the Waterfront"
14 "I Can't Get Started"



cd8
1 "(Back Home Again In) Indiana"
2 "Pennies from Heaven"
3 "New D.B. Blues"
4 "Lullaby of Birdland"
5 "There Will Never Be Another You"
6 "Tea for Two"
7 "Early Life [Birthplace/Music in New Orleans/Youn's Father]"
8 "After New Orleans"
9 "Pres's Instruments [Drums/Tenor Saxophone]"
10 "Count Basie"
11 "Racial Tension"
12 "Influences"
13 "Composing and Reading Music [The Family Band/ With Orchestra]"
14 "Recordings: Clarinet Dates"
15 "Lady Day and Nobody's Business"
16 "Philosophy on Music I"
17 "Younger Saxophone"
18 "Basie Then and Now"
19 "Debunking"
20 "Philosophy on Music I I"
21 "Pres's Sound: Sitting in With Fletcher Henderson"
22 "Joining Henderson"
23 "Early Pres; Oliver, Bronson, Basie"
24 "Coleman Hawkins and Henderson"
25 "Billie Holiday"
26 "Recording Techniques"
27 "Pres's Favorite Singers"
28 "Philosophy on Music Vis-A-Vis Other Tenor Players"
29 "Records New and Ol"
30 "Mahalia Jackson"