The Man in the Pork Pie Hat: Lester Young (1909-1959)
Lester Young was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. By 1920 he had moved to Minneapolis with his father, Willis Handy Young, a versatile musician who taught all his children instruments and eventually formed a family band that toured with carnivals and other shows. Young studied violin, trumpet, drums, and alto saxophone.
After one of many disputes with his father, he left the family band at the end of 1927.
In 1932, Young joined the Thirteen Original Blue Devils, and while on tour in Oklahoma City met Charlie Christian.
When the Blue Devils disbanded, he made Kansas City his base and played with the Bennie Moten-George E. Lee Band, Clarence Love, King Oliver, and Fletcher Henderson. In 1934, Young briefly played with Count Basie, and began to receive national recognition.
He briefly played with Henderson's band. However, his musicians rejected Young's style an approach. He joined Andy Kirk, then Boyd Atkins and Rook Ganz in Minnesota.By 1936, Young had rejoined Count Basie.
With Basie, he made his first recordings. His solos on "Lady be Good" and "Shoe Shine Boy" were highly regarded by musicians. Young would be prominently featured on Basie's recordings and broadcasts.
After touring New York and Los Angeles with his own band, Young returned to Count Basie's organization.
In 1944, he won first place in the Down Beat poll for tenor saxophonists, the first of many such honors.
He also became the favorite of a new generation of jazz musicians, among them John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz.
He was prominently featured in the film Jammin' the Blues.
In 1944 Young was drafted into the army, which began a troubling experience. He was discovered using drugs and was court-martialed. In 1945, he continued performing and recording in Los Angeles. At his first recording session he produced a masterpiece, "These Foolish Things." From 1947 to 1949, Young's alcohol problems impacted his creativity. From about 1953 until his death his recordings were noticeably less consistent, yet he was still able to produce some of his best work on concert recordings such as "Prez in Europe" (1956).
James E. Brunson
