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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lester Young: The Light that Failed, January 29, 2000
This review is from: The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve (Audio CD)
If you're seriously into Lester Young, you must, of course, own this set. But, while the first five discs will give you many hours of unalloyed joy, there is a scary, deepening sadness that comes with the final three. These are the last days of Lester, and beginning about halfway through disc six, you can hear the magic leaving him. From then on, he seems to shrink, suddenly losing all sense of the beat, sometimes playing only a few wayward notes, inept as any amateur on the instrument. By the time you hit the last Paris sessions of 1959, it is painful to listen to. What makes it even worse is the occasional flash, like dying lightning, of the old genius. You find yourself wondering what on earth prompted someone to record these last sessions. The collection includes two interviews with Young, which every fan must hear, and a great little book. And as I said at the outset, through most of this collection, the magic is still there. But you won't often revisit those last discs . . . unless you're the kind of person who likes looking at car wrecks.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lester's last 10 years: a must-have set, November 4, 2005
This review is from: The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve (Audio CD)
An 8-CD box set is a major investment for most people, but without a doubt this set is worth every penny. After recording for mainly Savoy and Aladdin for a few years after the war, Lester signed on with Norman Granz's Verve label (Clef/Norgran/Verve) and remained with the label for the last ten years of his life. Lester's entire recording career going back to the Basie days spanned only about 23 years, so this box set gathers almost half (time-wise) of Pres's recorded output. It's an exhilarating compilation of music, and captures some of Lester's finest post-war performances on the earlier discs, while tracing his gradual at first, and then very sudden, decline in power as his health became poor. The first 3 discs are virtually flawless, with one gem after another flowing from Young's tenor. Beginning with the famous trio date with Nat Cole and Buddy Rich that produced the masterpieces BACK TO THE LAND and I WANT TO BE HAPPY (though the sound here and on every CD issue of this date I've listened to isn't as good as the LP re-issue from the 1970s) and continuing with lengthy sessions with Hank Jones, John Lewis, and Oscar Peterson, the music remains at a very high level. THREE LITTLE WORDS, IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU, NEENAH,, JEEPERS CREEPERS, AD LIB BLUES, a gorgeous STAR DUST, among many others all capture Pres laying down unforgettable jazz performances. In the early '50s he established a working band that included Jesse Drakes on trumpet, and quite a few sessions feature this group. And as the decade continued he also recorded with Sweets Edison and Roy Eldridge. By 1956, however, Lester's health began to suffer, and so did his recordings. Some of his last albums (GOING FOR MYSELF, IN PARIS) are painful to listen to (only because earlier efforts were so outstanding), but even here Pres can at times rise to the occasion (the tune PRES RETURNS is brilliant). Lester Young was one of the giants in jazz and anyone interested in the music must hear the wonderful things this man created. A ridiculous argument has gone on for years in jazz circles that all of Lester's worthwhile recordings were made with Basie prior to the war and that his army experience ruined him with nothing of musical value coming after that - ridiculous, as I said. This box set will hopefully put that argument to rest. There are many, many brilliant recordings here, and these 8-CDs go far in providing us with an honest picture of a genius, in good times and bad. The packaging is very handsome and there's a 100-page booklet, informative and interesting, included. I have very BIG EYES for this set. A must-have CD set in my book.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Harvy Pekar knows very little, September 22, 2007
This review is from: The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve (Audio CD)
To say that Lester Young's best work was complete by the early 40's is ridiculous. This is a statement made by a person who clearly knows the subject very little. Mr. Pekar probably read a few reviews and then decided to write his own - without examining the body of work. Dimwit! Now, is this the best Lester Young available? Absolutely not. But what you're getting here is STUDIO SESSIONS. Lester made several very fine studio sessions in the 50's but his best work from the 50's - and, some of Lester's BEST WORK - are the live performances that we're so fortunate to have record of. In this set you get the Studio Sessions - many of them being very fine sets. Listen to the Lester Young TRIO set and you'll hear something marvelous. Some of these studio sessions, however, are lackluster. Lester was known in the 50's to have his "set list" of songs. Having no permanent backing group, Lester played with mostly pickup groups and so we have countless versions of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams", "Indiana", etc. Don't you imagine that Lester was tired of these same old songs played in the studio each time that he was to record? Of course he was. Thus we hear boredom, then depression and finally hopelessness as his body began to rapidly deteriorate (and quite possibly his mind as well). If one chooses to listen to the Lester Young in Washington CD's (1956) or some of the later (admittedly, selected) live performances then one will hear that Lester still had vitality, inventiveness and swing in his playing until darned near the end of his life. So for Harvy Pekar to say that Lester was "done" after the early 40's is a load of bull-butter. Pekar knows not of what he speaks. This set is for those who want to hear the STUDIO work of Lester - which is somewhat depressing towards the end. Lester had given up on STUDIO work - and in the later period ('57 and on) he pretty much gave up on life. The latter studio sessions show this. However, there is beauty in the economy and unfortunately, beauty in hearing Lester pour his grief into these sessions. It is written that many tears from his fellow musicians were generated from working these sessions and listening to the hopelessness and loneliness that Lester experienced, put through his instrument on these sides. So yes - this set is what it is. We're better for it (as Lester fans) and yes, there is a lot of depression on the last studio sides. But what we have to do in addressing Harvy Pekar's misgivings is to understand that Lester was capable and DID produce many good to very good live performances during this time. Lester's possible apex was the Aladdin Sessions. For anyone with ears, it's simple to hear that Lester was vital and original until the end. Listen to the body of work before making such general judgements, "Harv". This is Lester Young - not Ace Cannon. 4 Star rating for the Lester Young Fan 2 Star rating for those looking for an introduction to Lester Young 1 Star rating for those looking for Ace Cannon For those who are interested, pick up a used copy of: You Just Fight for Your Life: The Story of Lester Young by Frank Buchmann-Moller This is THE definitive Lester Young reader and I've read them all.
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