Lester Leaps In

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lester Leaps In is a jazz track from Lester Young . The tenor saxophonist recorded the composition, based on the harmonies of George Gershwin's I Got Rhythm (1930), for the first time on September 5, 1939 with the Kansas City Seven . It became Lester Young's signature tune and is now regarded as the jazz standard .

Origin and first recording

Young built Lester Leaps In on Gershwin's classic I Got Rhythm , which became the basis for a number of jazz standards and themes, including a. by Chu Berry and Charlie Parker . The saxophonist heard numerous cover versions in the early 1930s at the time he was developing his personal style. He put himself loop-like repetitive tune about the harmonies of Gershwin songs that "a downright simple rhythm and blues or jump- reef is" and up tempo was played.

The thematic motif of Lester Leaps In , which comprises 32 bars and has the song form AABA, Lester Young built in as early as 1937 at the beginning of a solo in Shout and Feel It with the Count Basie Orchestra . The first recording of the title took place on September 5, 1939 for Vocalion in a septet line-up under the band name Count Basie's Kansas City Seven , to which Lester Young Buck Clayton (trumpet), Dicky Wells (trombone), Count Basie (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Walter Page (double bass) and Jo Jones (drums) included. He himself played two choruses , which are dramatized by a stop-time arrangement; then he and Basie alternate every four measures.

reception

After the first recording of Lester Leaps In , the down-beat author "Barrelhouse Dan" wrote that Young played "the most unusual and stirring tenor that he has ever shown on record."

In his book A New History of Jazz , Alyn Shipton said:

"... Numerous commentators ... have pointed out that, far from employing the kind of substitute harmonies beloved of [Coleman] Hawkins, Young sought to simplify or reduce the harmonic material in a tune ...". Young's solo in Lester Leaps In with Count Basies Kansas City Seven includes numerous examples of his pursuit of simplification; in contrast to the very minimalist aspects of his solo, there are various skilfully executed runs, arpeggios and fills in which he moves gracefully on the tenor. […] It was further credit to Young's melodic approach to improvisation “that he approached rhythm in a completely different way than Hawkins . Where Hawkins tended to construct ascending and descending patterns of eighth notes and thereby generate interest in reference to harmonic complexity, Young's solo in 'Lester Leaps In' is teeming with rhythmic variation. Some phrases start exactly on the beat ; others are delayed by an eighth or quarter note. When a motif is repeated, it is usually placed differently over the accompanying beat for each repetition, sometimes with a minute delay in anticipation. "

Young biographer Douglas Henry Daniels wrote about the song and the original version:

“With the composition he demonstrated his considerable talents, and his breaks and stop-time choruses keep alive the principles of rhythmic variation and surprise - elements that Jelly Roll Morton already claimed were the essential content of good jazz. Call and Response holds the number together, with the opening riff being answered first by silence and then by a subtle piano. The riff itself consists of syncopated notes alternating with phases of silence, which is what defines the downbeat ; its considerably rhythmic motif is reminiscent of the drums, which was the saxophonist's first instrument. ”<
Lester Young, appearance at New York's Famous Door , circa September 1946. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Citation of the motif

Lester Young incorporated the motif of Lester Leaps In into other titles during his appearances , for example in the beginning of his solo in Exactly Like You , as well as in Poundcake, Blues in C, Lavender Blue and Lester's European Blues . Other musicians followed suit, such as Sweets Edison in the Basie recording Easy Does It (Columbia, 1940).

In later years, numerous musicians paid tribute to Lester Young , such as Gene Ammons in Woofin 'and Tweetin' and in his own composition Juggernaut . Dexter Gordon , who admired "Pres", did so in 1952 at the beginning of his solo in The Steeplechase , as did Wardell Gray in Jackie (1952 with Hampton Hawes ) and Sonny Stitt at the end of PS I Love You (Prestige, 1951). Percussionist Patato Valdez incorporated the same rhythms into his Yo Tengo Titmo .

More shots

Young played Lester Leaps one more time in 1946, this time with his own quintet. At first he stayed on the keynote, which he exposed to a rhythmic staccato . "His tone, which is free of vibrations, has a casualness and brittle elegance that has impressed and shaped many cool musicians." He continued to record his showpiece, among other things. a. with Nat King Cole , Jesse Drakes and John Lewis , most recently with the Basie-Band at the Newport Jazz Festival 1957.

Young's “phenomenal recordings and the handy theme” made the piece “a vehicle for countless improvisers of jazz for decades.” The spectrum ranges “from the mischievous, casual piano trio of a Nat King Cole to the serene serenity of a Von Freeman .” Basie kept that Song was a permanent part of his band's repertoire and recorded it several times until 1982. As early as 1949, Young, Charlie Parker and Flip Phillips used the piece to measure their strength in a session at Jazz at the Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall , which later served as a vehicle for quick improvisations. Parker, who never recorded Lester Leaps In in the studio, used the theme in 1952 at Rockland Palace ( Bird Is Free ) for one of his most arousing and fastest solos. Similarly, Johnny Griffin and Eddie Lockjaw Davis used the theme in 1984 at a saxophone battle at Jazzhus Montmartre and Houston Person and Teddy Edwards in 1994.

Gil Evans built a template for Cannonball Adderley in New Bottle, Old Wine in 1958 . Eddie Lockjaw Davis used Lester Leaps In 1959 with the saxophone ensemble Very Sax. Further recordings from the 1950s were made by Harry Babasin / Red Norvo , Earl Bostic , Don Byas , Kurt Edelhagen , Hampton , Budd Johnson , Quincy Jones , Lee Konitz , Erwin Lehn , Oscar Peterson , Gérard "Dave" Pochonet , Ronnie Scott , Tony Scott and Clark Terry .

The saxophone quartet Roots recorded the piece twice, in 1992 and 1995. James Carter combined it in 1995 (together with Harry Sweets Edison ) with the wedding march from Lohengrin . In the years after 2000, there were also recordings of Monty Alexander , Wycliffe Gordon , Bucky Pizzarelli , Scott Hamilton , Johnny Frigo , Ray Brown and Harry Allen . The discographer Tom Lord lists 290 versions of the title.

Text version

The Vocalese -Pionier Eddie Jefferson wrote a Song for Lester Leaps In , calling him I Got the Blues ; he recorded it several times from 1952 - also with James Moody (1955). Ella Fitzgerald appeared in 1957 with a scat version of the title. Virginie Teychene last recorded this version of the Young piece in 2008.

Appreciation

According to Young biographer Douglas Daniel, Lester Leaps In is “not just the trademark of Lester Young and a standard of the swing era; it is also a typical example of the exchange that took place between the traditions of jazz and popular music, with both influencing each other in a constant cycle of (re) -appropriation, which is at the heart of African American culture . In other words, the African-American style of swing regenerated, renewed and reworked rhythmic motifs and pentatonic scales that the Russian-American composer Gershwin had borrowed ”.

literature

  • Douglas Henry Daniels: Lester Leaps in: The Life and Times of Lester "Pres" Young , Boston, Beacon Press 1990
  • Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .

Web links

  • Inclusion in the catalog of the German National Library: DNB 359442455

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Douglas Henry Daniels: Lester Leaps in , p. 204 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c d Ted Gioia The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire Oxford University Press 2012, pp. 231f.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f H.J. Schaal jazz standards. P. 283f.
  4. ↑ Lester Leaps In (jazz.com) ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazz.com
  5. ↑ The recording of Shout and Feel It with the Count Basie Orchestra was a radio recording from the Savoy Ballroom , New York on June 30, 1937. Cf. Tom Lord : Jazz Discography online (accessed September 21, 2013)
  6. ↑ a b c cf. Tom Lord : Jazz Discography online (accessed September 15, 2013)
  7. ^ Douglas Henry Daniels: Lester Leaps in , p. 201
  8. ↑ a b c song portrait in Jazzstandards.com