Pres & Sweets

Lester Young, Young/Edison | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000047CH
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,371 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mean to Me

2. Red Boy Blues

3. Pennies From Heaven

4. That's All

5. One O'Clock Jump

6. She's Funny That Way

7. It's the Talk of the Town [*]

8. I Found a New Baby (Previously Unreleased)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Young's sound, April 15, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Pres & Sweets (Audio CD)

Lester Young sounds so tired here, still he is the reason most people would buy this CD, and they would be right.

Like Billie Holiday, Young's personality was transparent - everything he felt showed up in his sound. Here he is tired, introspective, disillusioned. When he plays the beautiful solo on "Its the talk of the town" he tells a story as no other musician I know. Technical skill becomes irrelevant, it is just a story being told. It is a sad story, told by a beautiful person.

There are many musicians who could swing, play fast or slow, and do it sounding good. But there is only one Lester Young, and to hear him in a relaxed studio atmosphere with a good sound quality is a rare experience. This CD also offers harry Edison in top form, Buddy Rich in a setting he thrives at (unlike the session with Parker and Gillespie, where he was clearly unfit), and Oscar Peterson who ALWAYS sounds good.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid small group swing session ([e-mail]), March 2, 2000

By 

William Faust (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pres & Sweets (Audio CD)

Young and Edison go way back. Both played in the late 30's/early 40's Basie band and in fact Young was the one who gave Edison his nickname "Sweets" when he first joined Basie in 1937. This is a solid small group swing session originally recorded in 1955. Edison is at the top of his game here having left Basie in 1950 to become one of the most sought-after studio musicians in Los Angeles. In fact, this session was recorded in the middle of his Sinatra period when he was backing the Chairman for Capitol records' "swingin" LPs. The rhythm section is first class - basically Oscar Peterson's trio plus Buddy Rich who most people associate with big bands but actually was one of the most adept small ensemble swing drummers ever. The only disappointment here is Young who sounds a bit flat, tired and uninspired on most charts. But this was recorded only 4 years prior to his death and so health may have played a role. Nonetheless, its a great disc with a nice collection of blues and standards that shouldn't be overlooked.