Kansas City Sessions

Lester Young | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 28, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B0000001NN
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,296 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Jazz Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 28-JAN-1997

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I'm fascinated with these 5-star ratings here, August 30, 2003

By 

"douglasnegley" (Pittsburgh, Pa. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kansas City Sessions (Audio CD)

Hey - there are great moments here - such as Lester playing clarinet, and playing the hell out of it: BUT BUYER BEWARE...the Kansas City Five sessions Do NOT even have Prez on them! That's right. Commodore Records released this as an LP in 1979, and while many tracks are in fact really well recorded, and Buck and Lester, and Freddie play great, many of the tunes are marred by Eddie Durham's totally out-of-place electric guitar "work". That's why there are so many alternate takes - and he never does get them right. How frustrating! "Good Mornin' Blues", "Laughing at Life", "I Know That You Know", and "Love Me or leave Me" are all minus Lester - now that is simply unacceptable when the CD is titled Lester Young. They do include some other tracks not on the original LP...they better, to make up for the lack of Prez on the others. There are some great moments here, but you really need to preview them. Maybe you'll like Eddie durham's quirky playing, but it ruins an otherwise wonderful line-up for me.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magical moments, July 9, 2001

By 

nadav haber (jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kansas City Sessions (Audio CD)

These are superb recordings by the master musician Lester Young and his Kansas City friends. When Young plays the blues on clarinet he reminds me so much of Billy Holliday - the transition from each note to the next is so full of musical emotion that it gets right inside my soul. The 1938 recordings with the clarinet are a high point in all Jazz - along with the Hot Fives and Sevens, Johnny Hodges small groups from 1939-40 etc. Young's beautiful sensitivity is displayed, along with the members of the group who afford Young the best support one could ask for. The 1944 sessions with Young on Tenor are great and complement the earlier sessions perfectly. I would heartily recommend this CD to any human being.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Always Young, June 3, 2001

By 

Polysyllabite "RBlythe" (Birmingham, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kansas City Sessions (Audio CD)

Who could ask for better than good recordings from mature, consummate professionals at (or near) the height of their powers? Young, Clayton, et al. had been around more than one block more than a few times by 1938, when the earlier session was recorded, and a few more by 1944, when the later session was recorded. All are exceptional here, especially Clayton's trumpet work and Eddie Durham's electric guitar work. Some say Lester lost his fire after his unpleasant army experience. His earlier stuff is undoubtedly livelier, even the slow blues, but the later recordings, which seem so port-wine-and-reefer slurred, will simply break your heart. All of the recordings here are ample evidence that Young always played what he felt, and that no matter how it came out, there was greatness in it. High points are "Countless Blues," "Pagin' the Devil #2," "Three Little Words," and "Good Mornin' Blues."