Customer Reviews

Pres & Teddy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the 1950s, producer Norman Granz brought many of the previous decade's biggest jazz stars into the studio in order to capture their immense talent, and hopefully revive some careers in the process. The names now read like a who's who of the jazz hall of fame -- Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, Art Tatum (for a different label however), Teddy Wilson and Lester Young. "Pres" as he was also known, was famous for his smooth, singing tenor saxophone voice, and it has never been better showcased than on his collaboration with pianist Teddy Wilson. The quartet, which is rounded out by Gene Ramey on bass and Jo Jones on drums, glides through six standards, and one Young original (the CD bonus track "Pres Returns"). "Pres and Teddy" has to rank right up there with any and all Verve recordings from the 50s -- which is pretty impressive considering the competition is classic albums like "Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson," not to mention all those great Bird recordings. "Pres and Teddy" is truly a summit meeting of presidential powers.

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Lester Young never sounded better: the Pres stretches out here as smoothly and sweetly as ever.
Teddy Wilson is spot-on his usual excellent game.
The standards are wonderful; recording time & sound excellent.
Solo Piano: Keystone Transcriptions 1939-1940
Complete Recordings
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Amazing.Terrific.Outstanding.Great.Essential.ETC,etc.
This extraordinary 1956 record by Lester Young has to figure in everyone's discotheque.A real must.
Here is a quartet you can dream of: Lester,Teddy Wilson on piano,Gene Ramey on bass and the Master,the greatest jazz drummer of all times, Jo Jones.(don't confuse him with Philly Joe Jones).
1956.Pres is 47,and three years ,two months and a couple of days later,he died at 49.Pres is 46,but he is old,tired of living in a world he doesn't understand.Pres drinks too much,Pres takes too much dope,Pres is starting to commit a long suicide.BUt here,Pres swings like he did twenty years before;maybe he thinks of the Basie days;maybe he thinks of his fantastic works with the young Billie Holiday ("I'll never be the same","this years's kisses",...);here Pres is in top form,swinging like mad.The greatest tenor sax player of all times,and one of the five greatest jazz artists of all times gives here one of his most majestic record.Here is an immense moment of music.Pres' versions of "all of me","Louise","love me or leave me","taking a chance on love","love is here to stay" are essential moments in the art of playing ballads.The superlative support of Gene Ramey,Teddy Wilson (one of my favorite piano players;Art Tatum once said,"I wish I could play like Teddy Wilson"!!!)and Jo Jones,the most fantastic drummer of jazz,gives this recording session a kind of swing that is rarely heard.The sound of the recording is perfect,Jo Jones' brushes are,of course,the best ones ever heard,Teddy's choruses are perfect models for every jazz pianist,and Pres' choruses here rank among the most magnificent phrases ever blowed on saxophone.By the way,Pres (for President) was Lester Willis Young's nickname.
This is a record I use to listen to for some twenty years;and I can listen to it each and every day,it won't be boring to me."Pres returns" is one of the best blues ever played.Seems like that day of January,1956,Lester recovered the feeling and happiness he had during the Basie days,at the end of the thirties.Don't miss this record,please,I'm sure it'll become a favorite of yours.Lester's here!!!

Norman Grantz's Verve get togethers were sometimes genius, like when he got Ella and Louis Armstrong together to do a series of recordings of the songs of Porgy and Bess. There is also his great Armstrong and Ellington together. Sometimes, they were not so good. Grantz and the artists' agents often did these sessions without any preparation for the artists, and often the mix of the artists was not the best.

However, many say, and I say, that this mixture of Teddy and Prez was a match made in Heaven. Lots of the old Basieites evaluated Teddy and Prez along with the Jazz Giants as one of the great Lester Young Recordings of the 1950s. Myself, I would add Prez's last album with Sweets and Little Jazz where Lester with just weeks to live played Clarinet on a lot of numbers. I couldn't get that one out of the CD player for a week after I bought it.

A lot of people believe the excellence of these particular recordings come from the fact that Prez was recorded not with rhythm players who were young Beboppers like he hired for his own combos, or the great Oscar Peterson, but when he had a rhythm section and accompanist who were of the same generation of swing players as Prez.

I certainly think that is true here. Teddy Wilson's piano playing always had the an approach similar to Prez's. He played with restraint and coolness while swinging.

Many of the Basieites, who recorded with Prez, Billie, and Teddy for Columbia in the 1930s, claimed he just didn't swing and wished they could have used Basie on the sides Teddy cut with Billie and also with other Basieites and Mildred Bailey. My opinion is the level of melodic and rhythmic restraint Teddy showed then and now, left a lot of room open for the great soloists like Prez, and the great vocalists Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey (IF YOU ARE UNEDCUATED AND DO NOT KNOW OF MILDRED BAILEY SEEK HER OUT GET ALL OF HER STUFF, SHE WAS THE FIRST JAZZ BAND SINGER AND ONE OF THE GREATS AND A WHOLE LOT OF FUN TOO).

Here you find the right mixture of Prez's great improvisation, his subtle coolness, and his great swinging, carried appropriately and supportively by Teddy who swings the same way, doesn't try to out burn him or get away.

I have this on LP, Tape, and Now CD, and whatever they make next I will buy this.

How can you get along without these tracks!

This album is truly a gem. This is a good example of a combo that really works well. During the 40's and 50's Norman Granz put together a lot of superstar combinations on the Verve label. Some of which did not always work out well. Buddy Rich on the album Bird and Diz is a good example of that. But this combination works perfectly. The smooth, light tone of Lester Young and the wonderful keyboard technique of Teddy Wilson on piano really compliment each other well. Pres is at the top of his game throughout this album, proving once again that Pres was still making top quality recordings in the later years of his career. Every song on this album is great and I definitely recommend this album for all jazz fans.

There is a common misconception that's been going around jazz circles for a long time now that when Pres got out of the army in the mid forties that his playing went drastically downhill and that few of his recordings after that time are worth acquiring. That is a complete crock and this album (recorded in 1956) proves it along with many other albums like "Jazz Giants '56", "With The Oscar Peterson Trio". and "Pres and Sweets" just to name a few. There are no bad songs on this album. Every song is wonderful, although "All of Me" and "Pres Returns" and "Prisoner of Love" (what soul he really puts into that one!) are probably my favorites. Take my word for it and get this album. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.

This is a classic session and highlights once again that Lester Young could still produce the goods almost right up to his death as stated below by previous reviewers.

Here the great tenor displays some great emotional intensity with a strong swing which became more evident in his latter records. Stand outs are "All of Me" and "Prisoner of Love". A true gem!

Indeed, this is Young at his best; in his later years he may have been less consistent than in his youth, but when he was good, boy was he good or what?
Did Teddy Wilson help make this album a masterpiece? Oh, I believe he did - since he didn't change his style very much, since he wasn't flamboyant or selfdestructive and since he lived and played consistently for very long, Mr. Wilson is not appreciated enough, but he is, I believe, the essence of swing and one of the best jazz pianist ever.
Compute for your self - his work in Benny Goodman trio and quartet is more than brilliant (check the great Carnegie Hall concert), sessions he arranged with Billie Holiday and a veritable who-is-who in jazz of the 30's (Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges...)are irreplacible, whereas his work with the Pres in the 50's proves how swing was still alive and kicking at the time.

Young and Wilson share the spotlight for me on this album, but it would be a shame not to mention great bass player Gene Ramey and the great (if not the greatest) swing drummer Jo Jones who knew Pres very well from their Basie years...
"All of me" is my favorite, but "Louise" and other performances are equally beautiful...

This album is one of the best albums ever made by Lester Young. Along "Jazz Giants '56" and the classic's from the late 30's where "The Pres" joined up with Billie Holliday there is no doubt that this unike master of improvisation and combo playing is at his best. The full toned body of his Sax and the incompatible side work of Wilson and Jones is without comparison.

Ive had this album for probably 25 years,but I could't resist a good value. This disc is a wonderful session of Pres and Teddy,witha great rhythm section(Gene Ramey and Jo Jones). Pres blows beautifully on this recording, even thought he does sound tired at times. Teddy Wilson backed up Pres on the 1930's sessions with Lady Day;these two go hand in glove. Do youself a favor and pick up one of the very best jazz albums from this or any other era.