Jazz / Mainstream Jazz; Cool; Swing
Recorded: 1943-Apr 1946, Los Angeles, California
Lester Young - tenor saxophone
Nat King Cole - piano
Buddy Rich - drums
Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Harry "Sweets" Edison - trumpet
Red Callender - bass
Johnny Miller - bass
Clifford "Juicy" Owens - drums
One of Lester Young's most memorable post-World War II dates came in 1946, when he entered a Los Angeles studio and formed a trio that employed Nat "King" Cole on piano and Buddy Rich on drums. In 1994, the results of that classic encounter, which Norman Granz produced for his Clef label, were reissued on the CD Lester Young Trio. Unfortunately, the sound is pretty scratchy, and one wishes that Verve had used digital remastering to reduce the noise. But the performances themselves are outstanding. From the blues "Back to the Land" to the soulful ballad statements of "The Man I Love" and "I Cover the Waterfront," Lester Young Trio explodes the absurd myth that Young's post-War output is of little or no value--a myth that many jazz critics have been all too happy to promote. The CD's four bonus tracks (which include "Sweet Lorraine," "Rosetta" and "I've Found a New Baby") come from a 1943 or 1944 session that doesn't employ Young at all, but rather, was led by tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon and features trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and Cole, among others. Listeners might ask what that session, which was Gordon's first as a leader, has to do with Young, and the answer is that it illustrates Young's tremendous influence on Gordon. At that point, Gordon still sounded a lot like Young, was still playing swing rather than bebop and had yet to develop a recognizable sound of his own--although by 1945, Gordon would become quite distinctive and influential himself. Highly recommended.
---Alex Henderson, allmusic
Includes liner notes by Bill Kirchner. |
