Lester Young

Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated harmonies, using what one critic called "a free-floating style, wheeling and diving like a gull, banking with low, funky riffs that pleased dancers and listeners alike".
Known for his hip, introverted style, he invented or popularized much of the hipster jargon which came to be associated with the music.
==Links to Peel==
Peel would have known of Lester Young as a major figure in jazz history from the jazz magazines he read his youth, as well as from hearing Young tracks on the BBC programmes of Humphrey Lyttelton and Peter Clayton. 
But only in the 1980s did JP begin to play tracks on which Lester Young appeared on his own programmes - and not just those made under his own name, but also early Billie Holiday recordings, on which Young played a prominent role, as a member of the small groups led by Teddy Wilson, which accompanied the singer on her classic records of the late 1930s. Many of these were reissued by CBS/Columbia in the late 1970s on a series of double albums under the title of The Lester Young Story, which may well have sparked a revival of interest in Young's work. On one show Peel mentioned being moved by an article in The Independent which described the close musical relationship between Young and Holiday and gave an account of Young's troubled life.
Peel also played a number of Lester Young tracks from a later era, after the saxophonist had left Count Basie's orchestra and was fronting small groups. The DJ chose one of these, 'Jumpin' With Symphony Sid', as one of his selections for the Peelenium 1947. 
After Young died, Charlie Mingus composed a tribute to him, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", which was covered by Bert Jansch and John Renbourn on their 1966 album Bert And John (a Perfumed Garden favourite) and later by Pentangle, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Joni Mitchell and June Tabor. So far, no evidence has been found of the cover versions in Peel playlists, but he did get round to playing Mingus's original, recorded in 1959, on his show of 13 November 2001 . In addition, Liverpool band Clinic recorded a track called "Lester Young" for a 1998 Peel session.
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1983
*17 April 1983 (BFBS): Jump Lester Jump (live NY 1944)
;1987
*09 February 1987: Barefootin Time In Chinatown (v/a LP - Think Smart Soul Stirrers; Jerk It At The Party In Chinatown) Kent
;1998
*20 August 1998: Blue Lester (LP - Master Takes) Savoy
*23 August 1998 (BFBS): Blue Lester (LP - Master Takes) Savoy
;1999
*15 July 1999 (& Billie Holiday: 'A Sailboat In The Moonlight'
*09 September 1999: Jumpin' With Symphony Sid (Peelenium 1947)
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists