Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio
| Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio | ||||
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| Studio album by Lester Young | ||||
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| Label (s) | Clef / Norgran / Verve | |||
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CD, LPs |
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Title (number) |
14th |
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running time |
62:59 |
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Studio (s) |
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Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (# 1 & 2) is a jazz album by Lester Young . It was recorded on November 28, 1952 in New York City and initially released by Norgran Records on two 25 cm long-playing records . The recordings of this session finally appeared in full in 1997 on the CD The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio . A remastered CD was released in 2005 on Verve Records under the original title.
The album
After Norman Granz gave him the opportunity to perform as part of his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts around 1945, he recorded the swing saxophonist in irregular succession on his newly founded label Clef and Norgran ; The first recordings were made in 1943 with the Nat Cole Trio. After making recordings for Aladdin and Savoy , Lester Young continued his recording work for Norman Granz around 1950, beginning with a session with Hank Jones , Ray Brown and Buddy Rich in 1949 and another with John Lewis , Gene Ramey and Jo Jones in 1951.
This was followed on November 28, 1952, recordings with the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and JC Heard and the guitarist Barney Kessel as a guest, who expanded the formation to a quintet. Young opted for a simple rhythm section when selecting the musicians ; the musicians were familiar to Pres from the JATP tours of the time. Granz had the tenor saxophonist's band record material for two 25 cm records (10 inch LP), which were then released on Norgran under the title Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio, # 1 & 2 . In total, Pres recorded 14 tracks in the November session, including the number “(It Takes) Two to Tango”, which offers the rare opportunity to experience Lester Young as a “singer”; this piece was initially unpublished.
Apart from the Young original "Ad Lib Blues", the recorded material was based on common jazz standards such as "These Foolish Things", Vernon Duke's " I Can't Get Started ", Vincent Youman 's " Tea for Two ", Jimmy McHugh's numbers " I Can't Give You Anything but Love ”and“ On the Sunny Side of the Street ”or Hoagy Carmichael's “ Stardust ”.
The album begins with Young's swinging “Ad Lib Blues”, at medium tempo he also plays Frederick Loewe's classic “Almost Being in Love”. The longest tracks with over seven minutes are the middle or fast numbers; such as the version of “Just You, Just Me”, a swinging “Tea for Two” and the medium-tempo “ (Back Home Again in) Indiana ”, which each leave Oscar Peterson and Barney Kessel enough space for their solos. The highlights of the session, however, are the ballads, the interpretation of which Lester Young developed to mastery during this time, here “I'm Confessin”, “Star Dust” and “ These Foolish Things ” or his most famous ballad, “I Can't Get Started ”, during which Oscar Peterson skips and Pres is accompanied by guitarist Barney Kessel. The CD edition also contains a one-minute false start of “I Can't Get Started”, which offers the opportunity to experience the studio atmosphere with conversations between the musicians.
Rating of the album
Ralf Dombrowski called Oscar Peterson's trio in his basic discotheque Jazz “the perfect environment for its sophisticated flowing lines with which he could counter the hustle and bustle of the hipsters on 52nd Street .” The recordings would document “one of his most brilliant days in front of the microphone” “The rhythmic experiments in Ad Lib Blues are already reminiscent of the rhythmic avant-garde experiments of the following years”, the melodic flow of Almost Like Beeing in Love is “of compelling elegance and dramaturgy, his retarding solo about Tea for Two demands the bebop speed A sense of form that goes beyond the scales and he succeeds in classics such as On the Sunny Side of the Street with perfect sound. "
In their review of the album, which they awarded the second highest rating, Richard Cook and Brian Morton mention Lester Young's "bizarre" vocal contribution as "a curiosity", but praise the entire session as "one of the best of this late phase."
In Allmusic rated Scott Yanow the album with the highest grade and mentioned that tenor saxophonist Lester Young whenever he was reasonably healthy finally made in the 1950s, some of his best shots. These wonderful performances also include the versions of "Just You, Just Me" and "Tea for Two" recorded with Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and JC Heard, as well as a number of his unforgettable renditions of ballads such as "On the Sunny Side of the Street ”,“ Almost Like Being in Love ”,“ I Can't Give You Anything but Love ”,“ There Will Never Be Another You ”and“ I'm Confessin '”. Scott Yanow closes with “Essential music”.
In All About Jazz , the critic Jason Laippley wrote in his detailed review of the album, already in its opening number, the "Ab Lib Blues", that the saxophonist swing with passion and style; he shows the perfect mastery of his instrument and the song. The music goes where it leads it; Pres seems to “lead the music outside”, it glides “on its silvery tone and literally flows on the melody. Young's solos rise up and seem to slide over the rest of the song as if they were forgetting themselves, here the songs always seem to follow Lester Young's path. His lush tone envelops the slow ballads, especially “I Can't Get Started”, a Pres specialty. "Star Dust" is equally captivating and "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" strides easily and welcomes the listener with a smile, as it were. " Regarding “Two to Tango”, the author notes that Pres' vocal performance is really in no way exceptional, but gives the listener an “opportunity for a glimpse at one of the most original personalities.”
The recordings would call into question popular opinion that his playing was never as good after the Second World War: Peterson and his trio also played wonderfully, but apart from a few solos for guest guitarist Barney Kessel, the session clearly belonged to Lester Young, even if he was known for to give his fellow musicians enough space for solos.
The titles
- Norgran Records (MGN 5, MGN 6, MGN 1054 (LPs), Verve 521 451-2 (CD))
- Ad Lib Blues (Young) - 5:50
- I Can't Get Started ( Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin ) - 3:39
- Just You, Just Me (Jesse Greer / Raymond Klages) - 7:37
- Almost Like Being in Love ( Frederick Loewe / Alan Jay Lerner ) - 3:31
- Tea For Two ( Vincent Youmans / Irving Caesar ) - 7:42
- There Will Never Be Another You ( Mack Gordon / Harry Warren ) - 3:25
- (Back Home Again In) Indiana (James Hanley / Baillard McDonald) - 7:01
- On the Sunny Side of the Street ( Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh ) 3:24
- Star Dust - ( Hoagy Carmichael / Mitchell Parish ) - 3:32
- I'm Confessin '(Daugherty / Reynolds / Neiburg ) - 3:39
- I Can't Give You Anything But Love (McHugh / Fields) - 3:19
- These Foolish Things (Harry Link / Jack Strachey / Holt Marvell) - 3:24
- (It Takes) Two to Tango (Al Hoffman / Dick Manning) 6:04
- I Can't Get Started (False Start) 0:52
- Pieces 2 and 14 were recorded without the participation of Oscar Peterson.
Discographic notes
The tracks "Ad Lib Blues", "Just You, Just Me", "I Can't Get Started", "Almost Like Being In Love" appeared on the 10-inch LP (MGN 6) Lester Young With The Oscar Peterson Trio, # 1 ; the tracks "Tea For Two", "Indiana", "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "There'll Never Be Another You" on the 10-inch LP (MGN 6) Lester Young With The Oscar Peterson Trio, # 1 . The 12-inch LP (MGN 1054) The Pres-Ident Plays With The Oscar Peterson Trio then released “Ad Lib Blues”, “Just You, Just Me”, “Tea For Two”, “Indiana”, “I Can 't Get Started ”,“ On the Sunny Side of the Street ”,“ Almost Like Being In Love ”and“ There'll Never Be Another You ”(later under Verve MGV 8144).
On his label Clef, Norman Granz released the Lester Young 78 record Almost Like Being in Love c / w There'll Never Be Another You under Clef 89027 , analogously under Clef 89045 the 78 On The Sunny Side of the Street c / w I Can 't Get Started . and in the 89100 series as a 10-inch LP (78 rpm) or 7-inch record under Clef 89100 Can't Give You Anything but Love c / w I'm Confessin '(That I Love You) .
Web links
- Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ralf Dombrowski : Basis-Diskothek Jazz (= Reclams Universal-Bibliothek. No. 18372). Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018372-3 .
- ^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- ↑ Scott Yanow: Review of the album Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio in Allmusic
- ↑ Review of Jason Laippley's album in All About Jazz
- ↑ Discographic information at Jazzdisco.org