Lester Young was one of the most important saxophone players in jazz.
He got a fine and soft tone with his horn, and it became very famous in
the late 1930s. He played in the
Count Basie
orchestra and recorded with Basie his first recordings in 1936. He was
a close friend of singer
Billie Holiday
and recorded many songs with her and
Teddy Wilson for Columbia
Records. He quit the Basie band in 1940 and started his freelance
career.
In 1944 he went into the army and this point in his life was dramatic;
racial problems were rife and endemic in the army at that time, and
Young wound up getting arrested. After this, he started to drink and
his appearances in the stand wasn't as good as the times with Basie and
Holiday. Nevertheless, he made fine recordings in the late 1940s on
Alladin Records--for example, the famous "D.B Blues" and "Jumpin' with
Symphony Sid". He signed a contract with Verve Records in the 1950s.
His last recording was on March 4, 1959, in Paris. After this trip to
Paris, he arrived on March 14 in New York and died the day after, of a
complication of cirrhosis.
Improvisation(1950)
Policy Man(1938)
'Round Midnight(1986)
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes(2018)
Paterson(2016)
Café Society(2016)
The Flash(2014)
Reach Me(2014)
Improvisation(2004)as Self
Music on 2(1965)as Self
The Seven Lively Arts(1957)as Self - Tenor saxophonist with Billie Holiday
The Tonight Show(1953)as Self - saxonphonist
American Masters(1985)as Self
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity(2023)as Self
Rembob'Ina(2018)as Self
Billie(2019)as Self - Saxophonist
Page Eight(2011)as Self