Remembering Legendary Saxophonist, Lester Young

BY: DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF

Jazz legend Lester Young, known for his work on the tenor saxophone and occasionally the clarinet, made an indelible impact on the jazz art form during his relatively short life.

Despite living only 49 years, Young’s career would directly influence players who themselves would become some of the most influential figures within the genre. Such musicians to take direct inspiration from Lester and his work include Paul Desmond, Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane, and even pioneering bebop saxophonist, Charlie “Bird” Parker.

In the early 1930s, Lester Young began to gain recognition for his distinctively smooth, laid back playing style, which distinguished him from many noted players of the day who relied on a more direct and biting approach to the horn. The increase in Young’s profile at the time came about due in no small part to the beginning of his musical relationship with composer and performer Count Basie.

During this time, Young would work extensively with Basie, as well as with bandleaders Fletcher Henderson and Andy Kirk, and with renowned jazz vocalist and songwriter Billie Holiday. It is said that it was Holiday who bestowed upon Young the nickname “Prez,” a moniker by which the saxophonist would be widely known from then on.

Young would continue to perform following his departure from Count Basie’s orchestra and, in the mid-1940s, would be drafted into the United States Army shortly following the conclusion of World War II. This development would put a hold on Young’s work as a musician up until his late 1945 discharge from the service.

Returning the performing scene, Young would achieve a fair amount of success and recognition for his post-war work. He would continue to work alongside future icons of jazz throughout the 1940s and 1950s, until health issues brought about in part due to lifestyle choices would ultimately catch up with him.

Lester Young would his final recording in early March of 1959, and would pass away shortly after in New York at the age of 49. He would be succeeded in death just a few short months later by his old friend and collaborator, Billie Holiday.

Many high-profile jazz musicians would pay tribute to Young upon his passing. Those who would acknowledge the loss through original works of their own in Young’s honor included Jazz Messengers trumpeter and future solo star, Wayne Shorter and legendary bassist and composer, Charles Mingus.

Since his 1959 passing, the influence of Lester Young had been and can still be felt rippling through the lexicon of jazz and throughout the whole of popular music. The undeniable power of his playing remains evident in recordings of tunes such as “D.B. Blues,” “Body and Soul,” and “Lester Leaps In.”

It could be argued that the seminal contributions to Western culture made by artists like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane were made possible only through the groundwork laid prior for these acts by the Prez.

Photo: Lester Young by Ojon Mili. Time Inc. – Public Domain