Lester Young

[thebeatlesrockgood]

sweet

[dhofkin]

@crockettjackson15 Polka Dots and Moonbeams. It was originally a song recorded by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals around 1940. Lester Young made a great studio recording with Hank Jones on piano in 1949 (Verve label). I think this live performance is from late summer/early fall 1958 - perhaps 6 months before Lester Young died. Most of his recordings and performances by this time in his life were a real struggle - this one is considerably better than average for this point in his life.

[potatoepeter1]

Its 11h45 22.05.2011, great video, at 4:18 very good, one of those things its an absolut very good song. The harmonies of this song are very 100%,

[rezobe2]

Ardderchog - mae'r swn sy' dod o'r offeryn yn wych er gwaethaf i'r piano sy allan o diwn. Neis i weld Prez yn chwarae hefyd.

[jeanfre55]

GRAN SENSACION CON LESTER! MAESTRO DE VIDA

[bandreification]

haha look how far out on the cork his mouthpiece is

[kevinherbert]

I'm with pure genius aussi......

[zedster911]

such a dichotemy... its either crap or pure genious... me??...pure Genious

[zedster911]

awesome tune... played by the Sax God

[zedster911]

awesome tune... played by the Sax God

[Edunei]

Que aprendam os malabaristas acrobaticos do saxofone, que, por falta de feeling e imaginação se baseiam em escalas em alta velocidade sem deixar recado nenhum ao ouvinte, Graaande Lester for ever...

[paolarefi]

rare,amazing...dreamsmusicform­e

[busessuck1]

Errrm... yes good to see an enthusiastic audience.

I love lester young as well, I think he found the perfect blend between bebop style creativity, and perfectly enjoyable music

[misiebobo]

COOL  GREEAT LOVE DIS

[liorfito]

O FORGOT THANK YOU JAZZART1 VERY LOVELY

[liorfito]

YEEEEEEEAA BABY I LOVE YOU PREZ(LESTER YOUNG)

[atirisdes]

im new into this but it seems to me that he is the sweetest. i would say stan getz is the sexiest, but lester young is the sweetest

[paolarefi]

Billie Holiday and Lester Young,someone have?

[chuns00]

@paolarefi

yep.

[leaveittoprez]

So I ran into Lee Young, Jr., right after his pop died. Told him I was a fan. He said "Yeah, the old quintet is back together again." I replied, "Maybe playing 'Tickle Toe." He said "And Polkadots and Moonbeams." Maybe just like this version.

[oOJimmySueOo]

the piano isn't out of tune. it's just the wavering of old footage.

[Thorneycroft37]

thanks

[PaulMurphyJazzDrum]

thak you for posting this ! !

[rico8544]

Magnifique temoignage su savoir faire de ce grand monsieur du saxophone ! ! !

[77kboogie]

lester young is one of the very best.

[danylongshaft]

Man , I think this is a couple months before he passed away, Prez be moain with his soul be poring

[Aiden057]

Damn, too bad the piano is so horribly out of tune. :-(

[helluvagun]

@Aiden057

The bad intonation is inherent in the recording, somehow! Not just the piano!

[nedmanxxx]

wow....look how far he's pulled out !

[dimoff91]

who are these other guys!!!

[mastherstaff]

esto es musica del corazon y para el corazon yea

[codeman2008]

Es verdad!

[mastherstaff]

beautiful sax

[bollebob3]

when was this recorded?!?! D:

[allgrams713]

A true requirm of a legend.

[squirvil]

Sorry, even weak or sick he played more profound music than 99.9% of the rest of us.

[gcrav]

Lester near death and it shows. So weak he can hardly play. As a big fan of his, that was painful.

[IndependentGeorge76]

sad to say i agree. a lot of pathos in this performance, but compare it to the athletiscm and rythmic invention of his youthfull playing... he really was a broken man by the end and sadly as a coda to a great artist, this isnt too fitting... goodbye pork-pie-hat...

[baazz1]

is that oscar peterson on the piano ?

[mwesterholm]

no.

[kikumicat]

けだるいジャズの心地よい響き

[helluvagun]

I'd said it before and I say it again the man was ALL BLUES and a pleasant blues at that!

[samadjhi]

@helluvagun Jazz a extension of the blues. All roads lead from the Blues .Blues,Negro spirituals, Dixie,swing,bebop all roads lead from the blues.

[parker9977]

The greatest tenor sax of all time!!!

God Bless U Lester!!!!

[bkgangstapianist]

this isnt Easy Living is it?

[MattieSongbird]

Good ear.  Easy Living - Eb

[fredpirotta]

No, it's Polkadots And Moonbeams. Try and fit E/L over this and you'll come unstuck on the third beat of the 1st bar. Prez would not perform a song until he had learned its words. Know your songs, live with them, then you'll recognise them and won't have to ask.

[aetasfert]

hb prez

with love and devotion

[aetasfert]

happy birthday Prez

you have the best saxophone sound ever!

with love and devotion

s

[splat4]

Happy 100th Birthday Lester Young! You're a genius!

[LoCkdoWnKiLLKeNnY]

Happy birthday, Lester.

[onehappiness]

Lester Young invented cool. Words cannot describe this man's gift, his talent, the depths from which he played. His music is forever!

Happy Birthday!

[thisidigofyou]

Happy 100th Birthday Pres!

[flyingscotsman1000]

WOW ! That's real SOUL !

[kotomo1]

Charlie Parker practiced his"Oh Lady be Good" (which Prez played with Count Basie's band) again and again and again - in his formative period. If you played it fast, it would surely sound like Bird. Check out Bird's version at Jazz at Philharmonic produced by Norman Granz - that masterpiece came straight out of Lester Young's progressive style!

[iching64]

good point. speed up Lester and you have bird. Lester was one super advanced dude.

[bnetwise]

Thanks for posting this for us fans

[Mr100pounds]

Polka dots and Moonbeams - Dex did this well, but this is PREZ!!

[Meskal2612]

Prez forever!

Peace

[JacobShulman]

People always talk about Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins like they were two equally good but different players, but I have to say, Prez has always been infinitely better than Hawk. (In my opinion)

[Praguedive]

Trane is the greatest sax player ever, but this man comes close.

[danylongshaft]

If it wasn't for this man,

there wouldn't probably be a Trane

[Praguedive]

No, I don't think so. Trane was so brilliant, he would have accomplished anything, no matter what has happened before. And by the way, Trane had a lot of influence on modern jazz too (even though he came after Prez). Just playing cool wasn't all he did, don't forget.

[judasslip]

I think both of you have the right of it.

In an article written by Coltrane himself, he mentioned that Lester was the first saxophone player who influenced him.

But Coltrane, being the humble and self criticizing person he was, probably practiced more than anyone else. There is even a story that he fell asleep in the toilet while practicing.

[m30wc0w]

I disagree.

Trane may not have even played Tenor the same way had it not been for Lester. Lester, in contrast to the other brilliant Tenor of the day, Coleman Hawkins, was fairly mellow and soft in his solos. Hearing two different ways to play the Sax was definitely something that Trane was inspired by.

And just because other musicians inspired Trane, doesn't mean they're better.

[mmilovan]

@m30wc0w

It is the matter of taste. But, at the other hand it is all music.

Lester was true genius.

[julesmonendrumface]

Man Lester Young is 1000 Times better !

[ChiTown7721]

Prez is my top man on the saxophone and the man who inspired me to pick up the horn. That beautiful tone is simply unmatched.

[ElGranAlf]

Para mi gusto, el mejor junto a Coltrane. Genial.

[madhoneydew]

well agreed. i have a huge poster of coltrane right above my computer. but, aside from hawkins, lester was the PRESIDENTE (as miss billie holiday said)

[frederickllaveri]

simply , one of my favorite tenor saxo player...

[purplel123]

Beautiful!

[drdee51]

Prez could alway rip your heart out he had so much genius and soul.

And, contrary to legend, he was never on junk. I got that information first hand from Jo Jones and Lawrence Lucie

[BrunoJazzmanLeicht]

Thanks for posting this awesome video! Just listen how Pres manages to get along with this horrible out-of-tune piano. That's touching and ingenious at the same time.

Brew

[paolarefi]

@BrunoJazzmanLeicht rare,amazing...dreamsmusicform­e

[tedusan]

That is Ray Bryant on Piano.Art Ford's show was called Saturday Night Swing Session on WNEW

[rebel2rebel]

What can anyone say, Prez is the greatest Jazz Saxophonists. He and Billie are the greatest Jazz duo ever. Long live Prez...

[marcotukoff]

who's on piano?

[hdbaumann]

The song is: "Polka dots and moonlight"!

[copaconbajo]

corr: polkadots and moonbeams ;)

[key2dacity]

Prez at the end of his tether.Still miles ahead of the pack!

[celinelareau]

Love you Prez . Forever in my heart.R.I.P.

[therealAlondre]

Mmmmm..... Yummy. It's all so straight from the heart. Thank you Prez!

[LemonGrassLand]

Is that Steve Allen?

[drcf02135]

Definitely not. Looks a little like him, but no.

[ivydivypres]

Seriously ---would like to know what tv show it came from --and how it was recovered ---this is part of Pres' body of work and an important artifact --is it possible to get the image and sound quality better ? ivydivy pres

[dhu2154]

@ivydivypres -- Pre VHS the recording medium was 16mm sound film shot from the TV studio monitor, called Kinescope. Resolution totally sucks, but that's what we're left with for all eternity.

[BawlinOnaBudget]

That piano is horribly tuned my god, I have never heard such an awfully tuned instrument but Prez still wins the show =).

[ivydivypres]

Something Ive never seen before ---where did it come from ? Any footage of Pres is a rare treasure ---this is late Pres --57 I would guess ---but it is marvelous---ivydivy pres

[dhofkin]

I believe (but am not positive) that this is from an Art Ford jazz show in summer 1957 or summer 1958. There are some other great clips from around this time of Billie Holiday on the Art Ford jazz show.

[bluetoothheffa]

Go Prez! I worked for his son.

A Wonderful and very fair man.

[danylongshaft]

Man...Prez is a bad ass, he has a completely unique sound. Even though hes in his last days and weak physically , his Brilliance still surfaces

[elijah326]

my ears!

[priapus56]

Bloody hell..what pub did they drag that piano out of???

[chogo888]

sorry i mean polka dots and moonbeams

[chogo888]

MAN I DID NOT KNOW THIS VIDEO EXISTED. My foolish things!! prez. Thanks for sharing this

if i could 6/5

[EvanCrofton]

3:52

[jimmy5x]

Prez is way too zoned out on the junk. Not one of his better performances.

[co2md]

can Prez play? dang, he can do nothin but. so fine and mellow.

[willieg0]

this is incredible footage....but whoever was in charge of the piano being in tune was an ass.

[allthatjazz2000]

By the way, this was Pres' last ever TV appearance (WNTA Channel 13). I believe it was recorded in an upstairs studio at Newark's Mosque Theater, now Symphony Hall. He'd appeared on the same show the week before playing with Coleman Hawkins. This pairing was said to be the best ever in the show's history.

[allthatjazz2000]

This was 5 months before Pres died and he was suffering from ill health. But still very poingant solo.. seems to be crying through his horn. Thanks for posting.

[STILLAVRIL1]

I agree, the wonderful playing of Lester Young was great.

By this time he was very tired. I think he'd be embarassed to see this.

His happy time, when he sounded playful was pre-war.

There were flashes of brilliance later, but this just seems a bit sad. Sorry.

[ilyalushtak]

Sad but sooooo beautiful.

[bluetoothheffa]

lester young's son became an educator with the nyc department of education and he was the best boss i ever had. hard to the core, but always understanding and fair. cheers to Lester w.young, Sr& Leaster 2. young, jr!!

[jmet718]

real Jazz

[jazzlvr123]

wow im a lefter fanatic and ive never seen this video before im amazed lester brings tears to my eyes thats for posting this rare gem of music history

[charliethebirdparker]

and that´s live! a whole feature song for prez alone on film!!!!

thanks a lot jazzart1!!!!!!

keep boppin´

marcel

[charliethebirdparker]

polka dots and moonbeams - art ford´s jazz party, october, 02. 1958. not in the "lestorian notes" discography by koster/mobach. but looking into meeker (jazz on the screen) it must be this session:

Rex Stewart, cornet; Nick Travis, trumpet;

Wilbur De Paris, trombone; King Curtis, Lester

Young, tenor sax; Rolf Kuhn, Bob McGarry,

clarinet; Ray Bryant, piano; Harry Sheppard,

vibraphone; Vinnie Burke, acoustic double

bass; John Paretti, Barry Miles, drums; Sylvia

Sims, vocal.

[eightstring]

Darn That Dream? Regardless...it's Prez! and he was the best! Thanks for the posting Jazzart1

[ottottojazz]

"A country dance was being held in the garden, I heard a bump and heard an, "oh, beg my pardon"...