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Lester Young
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Al Cohn
Al Cohn (Brooklyn, NY, 11.24.1925-Stroudsburg, Pennsylvanie, 02.15.1988) was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger/composer.
http://wn.com/Al_Cohn -
Andy Kirk
Andrew Dewey Kirk (May 28, 1898 in Newport, Kentucky – December 11, 1992 in New York City) was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era.
http://wn.com/Andy_Kirk -
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990), known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
http://wn.com/Art_Blakey -
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He is also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings.
http://wn.com/Artie_Shaw -
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Above all, she was admired worldwide for her deeply personal, intimate approach to singing.
http://wn.com/Billie_Holiday -
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.
http://wn.com/Buddy_Rich -
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.
http://wn.com/Charles_Mingus -
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), famously called Bird, or Yardbird was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
http://wn.com/Charlie_Parker -
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was the first important jazz musician to use the instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s,
http://wn.com/Coleman_Hawkins -
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".
http://wn.com/Count_Basie -
Dicky Wells
William Wells, (June 10, 1907? - November 12, 1985), more famous under the name of Dicky Wells (sometimes Dickie Wells), was an American jazz trombonist.
http://wn.com/Dicky_Wells -
Don Byron
Don Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but has also used bass clarinet and saxophones.
http://wn.com/Don_Byron -
English people
The English (from ) are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens.
http://wn.com/English_people -
Freddie Green
Frederick William "Freddie" Green (b. March 31, 1911 – d. March 1, 1987) was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and Walter Page on bass.
http://wn.com/Freddie_Green -
Gene Ramey
Gene Ramey (April 4, 1913 - December 8, 1984) was an American jazz double bassist.
http://wn.com/Gene_Ramey -
Geoff Dyer
__NOTOC__
http://wn.com/Geoff_Dyer -
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger.
http://wn.com/Gerry_Mulligan -
Gjon Mili
Gjon Mili (born 1904, Korça, Albania – 1984) was an Albanian-American photographer.
http://wn.com/Gjon_Mili -
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing December 15, 1944) was an American jazz musician (trombone), arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big bands". Miller's signature recordings include In the Mood, American Patrol, Chattanooga Choo Choo, String of Pearls, Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000. While traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II, Miller's plane disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. His body has never been found.
http://wn.com/Glenn_Miller -
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 31, 1922July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B; saxophone solo.
http://wn.com/Illinois_Jacquet -
Jimmy Rushing
James Andrew Rushing (August 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972), known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.
http://wn.com/Jimmy_Rushing -
Jo Jones
:For other persons named Jonathan Jones, see Jonathan Jones
http://wn.com/Jo_Jones -
Karl Denson
Karl Denson is a funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist from San Diego, California. He was a member of Lenny Kravitz's band and has co-founded and led The Greyboy Allstars. Denson has recorded with artists including Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Blind Boys of Alabama, Stanton Moore, and Jon Foreman of the rock band Switchfoot. As of 2007 he continues to lead his own Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and Karl Denson Trio (KD3). Jared Noem can't party according to Denson. KD will beat Noem up if he comes to another show.
http://wn.com/Karl_Denson -
Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook", and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Montreuil-sous-bois, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn led to modern jazz. While in New York, he played with the major innovators of the emerging bop style, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and others, as well as musicians of the prior generation, including Sidney Bechet.
http://wn.com/Kenny_Clarke -
Lee Young
Lee Young (March 7, 1914 – July 31, 2008) was an American jazz drummer and singer.
http://wn.com/Lee_Young -
Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914–22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.
http://wn.com/Leonard_Feather -
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
http://wn.com/Miles_Davis -
Norman Granz
Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 in Los Angeles, USA – November 22, 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland) was an American jazz music impresario and producer.
http://wn.com/Norman_Granz -
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, OOnt, (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends, and was a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years.
http://wn.com/Oscar_Peterson -
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk (August 7, 1935 – December 5, 1977) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments. He was renowned for his onstage vitality, during which virtuoso improvisation was accompanied by comic banter, political ranting, and the ability to play several instruments simultaneously.
http://wn.com/Rahsaan_Roland_Kirk -
Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.
http://wn.com/Roy_Eldridge -
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow (born 4 October 1954 in New York) is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.
http://wn.com/Scott_Yanow -
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt (b. February 2, 1924, Boston, Massachusetts – d. July 22, 1982, Washington, D.C.) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the most well-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern in tribute to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. He is considered the greatest disciple of Charlie Parker. Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane. Stitt was especially effective with blues and with ballad pieces such as "Skylark".
http://wn.com/Sonny_Stitt -
Stan Getz
Stanley Gayetzky or Stanley Gayetsky (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991), usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young.
http://wn.com/Stan_Getz -
Sweets Edison
Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999), born in Columbus, Ohio, was an American jazz trumpeter and member of the Count Basie Orchestra.
http://wn.com/Sweets_Edison -
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. He is considered one of the most influential jazz pianists of all time.
http://wn.com/Teddy_Wilson -
Vic Dickenson
Vic (Victor) Dickenson (August 6, 1906 - November 16, 1984) was an African-American jazz trombonist. Dickenson's career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical partnerships with such legends as Count Basie (1940-41), Sidney Bechet (1941) and Earl Hines . Also a soloist of wide acclaim, Vic Dickenson was known for the distinctive sound he coaxed out of the trombone.
http://wn.com/Vic_Dickenson -
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer, commonly regarded as one of the most important American jazz musicians of his generation. Shorter's output within the field has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and various commendations, including multiple Grammy Awards.
http://wn.com/Wayne_Shorter -
William P. Gottlieb
http://wn.com/William_P_Gottlieb -
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 - March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.
http://wn.com/Zoot_Sims
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Ft. McClellan
http://wn.com/Ft_McClellan -
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; , Spanish for "The Angels") is the second most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of California and the western United States, with a population of 3.83 million within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Los Angeles extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 14.8 million and it is the 14th largest urban area in the world, affording it megacity status. The metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is home to nearly 12.9 million residents while the broader Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) contains nearly 17.8 million people. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos" ().
http://wn.com/Los_Angeles -
Minneapolis
Minneapolis (), nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States. Its name is attributed to the city's first schoolteacher, who combined mni, the Dakota word for water, and polis, the Greek word for city.
http://wn.com/Minneapolis -
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.27 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.
http://wn.com/Minnesota -
Missouri
Missouri () (abbreviated MO) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2009 estimated population of 5,987,580, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri was originally acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became defined as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.
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New York
New York (; locally or ) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the north and west, and Quebec to the north. New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
http://wn.com/United_States
Lester Young related sites on:
- Al Cohn
- Aladdin Records
- Allmusic
- Andy Kirk
- Art Blakey
- Artie Shaw
- be-bop
- Billie Holiday
- boogaloo
- Buck Clayton
- Buddy Rich
- Carnegie Hall
- CBS
- Charles Mingus
- Charlie Parker
- clarinet
- clarinetist
- Coleman Hawkins
- Columbia Records
- Commodore Records
- cool
- cool (aesthetic)
- Count Basie
- Countless Blues
- court-martial
- Decca Records
- Dexter Gordon
- Dicky Wells
- Don Byron
- draft
- Drum kit
- elegy
- English people
- Fletcher Henderson
- Freddie Green
- Ft. McClellan
- Gene Ramey
- Geoff Dyer
- Gerry Mulligan
- Gjon Mili
- Glenn Miller
- Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
- Greyboy Allstars
- Illinois Jacquet
- Jammin' the Blues
- Jazz
- Jim Crow laws
- Jimmy Rushing
- Jo Jones
- Karl Denson
- Kenny Clarke
- Lee Young
- Leonard Feather
- Lester Leaps In
- Lester Young Trio
- liver disease
- Los Angeles
- malnutrition
- Miles Davis
- Military discharge
- Milt Gabler
- Minneapolis
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Modern Jazz Quartet
- Nat King Cole
- nervous breakdown
- New York
- New York City
- Norman Granz
- Oscar Peterson
- Paul Quinichette
- Peter_Straub
- Pres and Teddy
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk
- Rodney Richardson
- Roy Eldridge
- Savoy Records
- saxophone
- Saxophonist
- Scott Yanow
- Sonny Stitt
- Stan Getz
- Sweets Edison
- Teddy Wilson
- Tenor saxophone
- The Jazz Giants '56
- The Master's Touch
- The Sound of Jazz
- trumpet
- United States
- United States Army
- vaudeville
- Verve Records
- Vic Dickenson
- violin
- Warne Marsh
- Wayne Shorter
- William P. Gottlieb
- World War II
- Zoot Sims
Young, Lester Filmography
- Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection (2005)
- Improvisation (2004)
- A Great Day in Harlem (1994)
- The Ladies Sing the Blues (1989)
- The Last of the Blue Devils (1979)
- Jammin' the Blues (1944)
- Policy Man (1938)
Lester Young was one of the most important saxophone players in jazz. He got a fine and soft tone with his horn, and it became very famous in the late thirties. He played in the 'Count Basie' (qv) orchestra and recorded with Basie his first recordings in 1936. He was a close friend of the singer 'Billie Holiday' (qv) and recorded many songs with her and 'Teddy Wilson (II)' (qv) for Columbia Records. He quit the Basie band in 1940 and started his freelance career. In 1944, he went into the army and this point in his life was dramatic, because the racial problems there are continuous and he was arrested. After this, Lester started to drink and his appearances in the stand wasn't as good as the times with Basie and Holiday. Nevertheless, he made fine recordings in the late forties on Alladin records, for example, the famous "D.B Blues" and "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid". He signed a contract with Verve records in the fifties. His last recording was on March 4, 1959 in Paris. After this trip to Paris, he arrived on March 14 in New York and died the day after, of a complication of cirrhosis.
Young, Lester Filmography
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You Tk1
- Exercise In Swing Tk1
- Exercise In Swing Tk2
- Indiana
- Salute To Fats
- Circus In Rhythm
- Indiana (2)
- Getting Together
- Basie English
- Jump, Lester, Young
- Ding Dong
- Poor Little Plaything Tk1
- Poor Little Plaything Tk2
- Big Eyes Blues
- Up N At'em
- Perdido
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- Deed I Do
- Lester Leaps In
- I Cover the Waterfront
- Sventh Ave. Stomp
- New Lester Leaps In
- Lester Blows Again
- Jammin' With Lester
- She's Funny That Way
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- D.B. Blues
- These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
- After You've Gone
- Jumpin' at Mesner's
- Somebody Loves Me
- I Want to Be Happy
- Lester's Be Bop Boogie
- Lover, Come Back to Me
- I Got Rhythm
- Lester Smooths It Out
- I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- Just You, Just Me
- I Never Knew
- Blue Lester
- Indiana
- Ghost of a Chance
- Jump Lester Jump
- Indiana
- Blue Lester
- Jump Lester Jump
- Ghost Of A Chance
- Basic English
- These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)
- Exercise In Swing
- Salute To Fats
- Crazy Over J-Z
- Blues 'n' Bells
- Ding Dong
- June Bug
- Circus In Rhythm
- Poor Little Plaything
- Tush
- Almost Like Being in Love
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Ad Lib Blues
- Slow Motion Blues
- In a Little Spanish Town
- Stardust
- A Foggy Day
- There Will Never Be Another You
- Just You, Just Me
- I Can't Get Started
- Mean to Me
- I've Found a New Baby
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- Udercover Girl Blue
- Lester Swings
- September in the Rain
- I Didn't Know What Time It Was
- Oh Lady, Be Good!
- Almost Like Being in Love
- Three Little Words
- I Cover the Water Front
- I Can't Get Started
- (Back Home Again in) Indiana
- Pennies From Heaven
- New D.B. Blues
- Lullaby of Birdland
- There Will Never Be Another You
- Tea for Two
The Quintessence, Volume 2: New York - Los Angeles 1938-1947
(Released 2000)
add all to playlist
select all
- Them There Eyes
- Cherokee, Parts I & II
- I Ain't Got Nobody
- (Let Me) Live and Love Tonight
- Love Me or Leave Me
- Twelfth Street Rag
- Miss Thing, Part I: + II
- Song of the Islands
- I Never Knew
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- Six Cats and a Prince
- Destination K.C.
- Jojo
- Four O'Clock Drag
- Poor Little Plaything
- Kansas City Stride
- Basie Strides Again
- The Midnight Symphony
- The Man I Love
- These Foolish Things
- Jump Lester Jump
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Too Marvelous for Words
- She's Funny That Way
- Just You, Just Me
- A Ghost of a Chance
- I Never Know
- Blue Lester
- Lester Leaps Again
- Peg o' My Heart
- I Got Rhythm
- Back to the Land
- I Want to Be Happy
- I'm Confessin
- Indiana
- I Can't Get Started
- Body and Soul
- D.B. Blues
- Pennies From Heaven
- I Got Rhythm
- Indiana
- These Foolish Things
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Chris 'N' Diz
- Prez's Mood
- Lester Leaps In (version 1)
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Lady Be Good
- Lester Leaps In (version 2)
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- I Want a Little Girl
- Just Jivin' Around
- One O'Clock Jump
- Jumping With Symphony Sid
- Three Little Words
- Shoe Shine Boy
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- This Year's Kisses
- Easy Living
- Me, Myself and I
- A Sailboat in the Moonlight
- One O'Clock Jump
- When You're Smiling
- Every Tub
- Swinging the Blues
- Doggin' Arround
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- I Can't Get Started
- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
- Countless Blues
- I Want a Little Girl
- Shorty George
- Pannassie Stomp
- You Can Depend on Me
- Cherokee, Parts 1 & 2
- Jive at Five
- Taxi War Dance
- Pound Cake
- Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie
- A Foggy Day
- I Can't Get Started (With You)
- Lester Leaps In
- I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
- Almost Like Being in Love
- D.B. Blues
- These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
- Lullaby of Birdland
- D.B. Blues
- Lester Blows Again
- These Foolish Things
- Jumpin' at Mesner's
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- After You've Gone
- Lover, Come Back to Me
- Jammin' With Lester
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- New Lester Leaps In
- Lester's Be Bop Boogie
- She's Funny That Way
- Sunday
- S.M. Blues
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- No Eyes Blues
- Sax-O-Be-Bop
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Easy Does It
- Movin' With Lester
- One O'Clock Jump
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- Every Tub
- Honeysuckle Rose
- Pagin' the Devil
- A Sailboat in the Moonlight
- He's Funny That Way
- Getting Some Fun Out of Life
- If Dreams Come True
- Taxi War Dance
- Twelfth Street Rag
- Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie
- Lester Leaps In
- Tickle Toe
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- I've Found a New Baby
- D.B. Blues
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- This Year's Kisses
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Fat Hat Blues
- Tenor King
- Swingin' at Milts
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- Sunday
- Sad Eyes
- Big Eyes Blues
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- Sax-A-Plenty
- Sunny Side of the Street
- Don't You Know
- Love Me or Leave Me
- To the Best of 'Kats'
- A Foggy Day in London Town
- Takin' a Chance on Love
- I've Found a New Baby
- The Man I Love
- Peg O' My Heart
- Mean to Me
- Back to the Land
- I Cover the Waterfront
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- Lester Leaps Again
- Afternoon on a Basie-Ite
- Three Little Words
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- After Theatre Jump
- Six Cats and a Prince
- Destination K.C.
- Body and Soul
- Exercise in Swing
- Back to the Land
- I Cover the Waterfront (12" LP take)
- I Cover the Waterfront (Master take)
- Somebody Loves Me
- I've Found a New Baby
- The Man I Love
- Peg O' My Heart
- I Want to Be Happy
- Mean to Me
- Too Marvelous for Words (78rpm take)
- Too Marvelous for Words (LP take)
- 'Deed I Do
- Encore
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Up 'n' Adam
- Three Little Words
- Count Every Star (Master take)
- Count Every Star
- It All Depends on You
- Neenah (alternate take)
- Neenah (alternate take)
- Neenah (Master take)
- Ad Lib Blues
- I Cover the Waterfront
- Lester Swings
- Undercover Girl Blues
- It's the Talk of the Town
- This Year's Kisses
- Up 'n' Adam
- They Can't Take That Away From Me
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Love Is Here to Stay
- Waldorf Blues
- All of Me
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Lester Leaps In
- Taxi War Dance
- Blue Lester
- Shoe Shine Swing
- I'll Never Be the Same
- Texas Shuffle
- You Can Depend on Me
- Body and Soul
- I Got Rhythm
- Jive at Five
- Ghost of a Chance
- Lester Leaps Again
- Dark Rapture
- Countless Blues
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- Destination K.C.
- These Foolish Things
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- D.B. Blues
- Back to the Land
- He Ain't Got Rhythm
- This Year's Kisses
- Why Was I Born?
- I Must Have That Man
- Sun Showers
- Yours and Mine
- Mean to Me (Price Master)
- Mean to Me
- Foolin' Myself
- Easy Living
- I'll Never Be the Same
- Me, Myself and I
- Me, Myself and I (Price Master)
- A Sailboat in the Moonlight
- Born to Love
- Without Your Love (Price Master)
- Without Your Love
- Getting Some Fun Out of Life
- Who Wants Love?
- Trav'lin' All Alone
- He's Funny That Way
- I Can't Get Started
- I've Found a New Baby
- Pennies From Heaven
- I Didn't Know What Time It Was
- The Man I Love
- Just You, Just Me
- Mean to Me
- All of Me
- Somebody Loves Me
- Lester Leaps Again
- That's All
- I Want to Be Happy
- Shoe Shine Boy
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- Roseland Shuffle
- This Year's Kisses
- Foolin' Myself
- I'll Never Be the Same
- One O'Clock Jump
- When You're Smiling
- Honeysuckle Rose (excerpt)
- Every Tub
- Blue and Sentimental
- Lady Be Good
- Texas Shuffle
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
- I Want a Little Girl
- Cherokee, Part 1
- Cherokee, Part 2
- Taxi War Dance
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Jazz Me Blues
- Swingin' the Blues
- Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie
- Dickie's Dream
- I Can't Get Started
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- New Lester Leaps In
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- I'm Confessin'
- Lester Smooths It Out
- Just You, Just Me
- Something to Remember You By
- Tea for Two
- Blue 'n' Bells
- Up 'n' Adam
- Body and Soul
- Neenah
- I Cover the Waterfront
- Undercover Girl Blues
- Ghost of a Chance
- Indiana
- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans #2
- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
- Countless Blues
- Countless Blues #2
- Them There Eyes #2
- Them There Eyes
- I Want a Little Girl
- I Want a Little Girl #2
- Pagin' the Devil
- Pagin' the Devil #2
- Three Little Words #2
- Three Little Words
- Jo Jo
- I Got Rhythm #3
- I Got Rhythm #2
- I Got Rhythm
- Four O'Clock Drag
- Four O'Clock Drag #3
- Laughing at Life
- Good Mornin' Blues
- I Know That You Know
- Love Me or Leave Me
The Quintessence, Volume 1: Chicago - New York - Los Angeles 1936-1944
(Released 1995)
add all to playlist
select all
- Blue Lester (L Young)
- Lester Leaps In (L. Young)
- Lester Leaps in Again (B Clayton)
- Lester's Dream (C. Basie-L. Young)
- Jump, Lester, Jump (L Young)
- Dark Rapture (B Goodman, E Sampson, M Kurtz)
- Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (JT Layton, H Creamer)
- Three Little Words (H Ruby, B Kalmar)
- On the Sunny Side of the Street (J McHugh, D Fields)
- Just You, Just Me (J Greer, R Klages)
- Countless Blues (M Gabler)
- Tickle Toe (L. Young)
- You Can Depend on Me (E Himes, C Carpenter, L Dunlop)
- These Foolish Things (H Link, J Strachey, H Marvell)
- Linger Awhile (V Rose, H Owens)
- Blitzkrieg Baby (F & D Fisher)
- Good Morning Blues (C Basie, E Durham, J Rushing)
- Oh! Lady Be Good (G & I Gershwin)
- All of Me - Take 1
- Foolin' Myself
- My First Impression of You
- When You're Smiling
- Back in You Own Backyard
- He's Funny That Way
- He Ain't Got Rhythm
- Now They Call It Swing
- I've Got a Date Whith a Dream
- If Dreams Come True
- I Must Have That Man
- The Man I Love
- When a Woman Loves a Man
- You're a Lucky Guy
- Easy Living
- Everybody's Laughing
- Laughing at Life
- Getting Some Fun Out of Life
- Indiana
- I Can't Get Started
- Tea for Two
- Body and Soul
- D.B. Blues
- Lester Blows Again
- These Foolish Things
- Jumpin' at Mesner's
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- After You've Gone
- Lover, Come Back to Me
- Jammin' With Lester
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- New Lester Leaps In
- Lester's Be Bop Boogie
- She's Funny That Way
- Sunday
- S.M. Blues
- Lester Leaps In
- These Foolish Things
- Three Little Words
- Pennies From Heaven
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- (Back Home Again In) Indiana
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- D.B. Blues
- I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You
- Up 'n' Adam
- Blues in G (Lester's Mop Mop Blues)
- Tea for Two
Billie Holliday With Lester Young: Lady Day & Prez 1937-1941
(Released 1994)
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- This Year's Kisses
- Without Your Love
- All of Me
- Me, Myself and I (Are All in Love With You)
- I'll Get By
- Mean to Me
- A Sailboat in the Moonlight
- I'll Never Be the Same
- Getting Some Fun Out of Life
- The Man I Love
- Trav'Lin' All Alone
- Time on My Hands
- Laughing at Life
- Back in Your Own Backyard
- Georgia on My Mind
- Let's Do It
- Foolin' Myself
- Easy Living
- Say It With a Kiss
- You Can't Be Mine (And Someone Else's Too)
- I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me
- She's Funny That Way
- Romance in the Dark
- I Must Have That Man!
- Love Me or Leave Me
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- I've Found a New Baby
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- (Back Home Again In) Indiana
- Prisoner of Love
- In a Little Spanish Town
- Just You, Just Me
- Peg O' My Heart
- Too Marvelous for Words
- All of Me
- I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
- Mean to Me
- I Never Knew
The Complete 1936-1951 Small Group Sessions, Volume 4: 1946-1949
(Released 1993)
add all to playlist
select all
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- New Lester Leaps In
- Lester's Be Bop Boogie
- She's Funny That Way
- Sunday
- S.M. Blues
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- No Eyes Blues
- Sax-O-Be-Bop
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Easy Does It
- Movin' With Lester
- One O'Clock Jump
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- Confessin'
- Lester Smooths It Out
- Just Coolin'
- Tea for Two
- East of the Sun, West of the Moon
- The Sheik of Araby
- Something to Remember You By
- Crazy Over J.Z.
- Ding Dong
- Blues 'n' Bells
- June Bug
The Complete 1936-1951 Small Group Sessions, Volume 3: 1944-1946
(Released 1993)
add all to playlist
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- Blue Lester
- Ghost of a Chance
- Indiana
- Jump Lester Jump
- D.B. Blues
- Lester Blows Again
- These Foolish Things
- Jumpin' at Mesner's
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- Afer You've Gone
- Lover Come Back to Me
- Jammin' With Lester
- Back to the Land
- I Cover the Waterfront
- Somebody Loves Me
- I've Found a New Baby
- The Man I Love
- Peg O'My Heart
- I Want to Be Happy
- Mean to Me
The Complete 1936-1951 Small Group Sessions, Volume 2: 1942-1944
(Released 1993)
add all to playlist
select all
- Body and Soul
- I Got Rhythm
- I'm Fer It Too
- Hello, Babe
- Linger Awhile
- Just You, Just Me
- I Never Knew
- Afternoon of a Basie-Ite
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- After Theatre Jump
- Six Cats and a Prince
- Lester Leaps in Again
- Destination K.C.
- Three Little Words
- Jo-Jo
- I Got Rhythm
- Four O'Clock Drag
- These Foolish Things
- Exercise in Swing
- Salute to Fats
- Basie English
- Circus in Rhythm, Take 2
- Poor Little Plaything
- Tush, Take 1
- These Foolish Things
- Exercise in Swing, Take 3
- Salute to Fats, Take 1
- Basie English, Take 1
- Blue Lester
- I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance, Take 1
- Indiana, Take 2
- Jumpe Lester Jump
- Crazy over J-Z, Take 2
- Ding Dong, Take 2
- Blues'n'Bells, Take 1
- June Bug
- Mean to Me
- Red Boy Blues
- Pennies from Heaven
- That's All
- One O'Clock Jump
- She's Funny that Way
- It's the Talk of the Town
- I Found a New Baby
- Lester Leaps In
- Up and at 'em
- Indiana
- Ghost of a Chance
- How High the Moon
- D.B. Blues
- Up and at 'em (Alt. version)
- Blue E Sentimental
- Neenah
- Lester Leaps In (Alt. version)
- Frenesi
- Pete's Cafe
- Little Pee's Blues
- A Foggy Day
- In a Little Spanish Town
- Let's Fall in Love
- Down 'n' Adam
- Lester Swings
- Slow Motion Blues
- Ad Lib Blues
- Just You, Just Me
- Tea for Two
- Indiana
- These Foolish Things
- I Can't Get Started
- Stardust
- It Takes Two to Tango
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Almost Like Being in Love
- Back to the Land
- I Cover the Waterfront
- Somebody Loves Me
- I Found a New Baby
- The Man I Love
- Peg O' My Heart
- I Want to Be Happy
- Mean to Me
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- New Lester Leaps In
- She's Funny That Way
- Lester's Be-Bop Boogie
- Sunday
- S.M. Blues
- Jumping With Symphony Sid
- No Eyes Blues
- Saz-O-Be-Bop
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Easy Does It
- Movin' With Lester
- One O'Clock Jump
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- Just You, Just Me
- I Never Knew
- Afternoon of a Basie-Ite
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- Empty Hearted
- Circus in Rhythm
- Poor Little Plaything
- Tush
- Lester's Blues (Blue Lester)
- I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You
- Back Home Again in Indiana
- Lester's Savoy Jump (Jump Lester Jump)
- D.B. Blues
- Lester Blows Again
- These Foolish Things
- Jumpin' at Mesner's
- Untitled Instrumental
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- After You've Gone
- Lover Come Back to Me
- Jammin' With Lester
- This Year's Kisses
- I Must Have That Man
- I'll Get By
- Mean To Me
- I'll Never Be The Same
- Easy Living
- Foolin' Myself
- Without Your Love
- Me, Myself And I (Are All In Love With You)
- A Sailboat In The Moonlight
- Trav'lin' All Alone
- She's Funny That Way
- Getting Some Fun Out Of Life
- I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
- Back In Your Own Backyard
- You Can't Be Mine (And Someone Else's Too)
- Say It With A Kiss
- The Man I Love
- Blues For Norman
- Oh, Lady Be Good
- I Can't Get Started
- After You've Gone
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- JATP Blues
- I Got Rhythm
- He Ain't Got Rhythm
- This Year's Kisses
- Why Was I Born?
- I Must Have That Man!
- Sun Showers
- Yours and Mine
- Mean to Me
- Foolin' Myself
- Easy Living
- I'll Never Be the Same
- Me, Myself and I
- Sailboat in the Moonlight
- Born to Love
- Without Your Love
- Getting Some Fun Out of Life
- Who Wants Love?
- Trav'lin' All Alone
- He's Funny That Way
- My First Impression of You
- When You're Smiling
- I Can't Get Started
- A Foggy Day
- When You're Smiling
- I Can't Get Started
- Fast B-flat Blues
- D.B. Blues
- Tea for Two
- Jeepers Creepers
- D.B. Blues
- Pennies From Heaven
- I Got Rhythm
- Indiana
- These Foolish Things
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Chris 'N' Diz
- Prez's Mood
- Lester Leaps In (version 1)
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Lady Be Good
- Lester Leaps In (version 2)
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- I Want a Little Girl
- Just Jivin' Around
- One O'Clock Jump
- Jumping With Symphony Sid
- Three Little Words
- Just You, Just Me
- I Never Knew
- (Back Home Again In) Indiana
- I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You
- Jump Lester Jump
- Lester Blows Again
- D.B. Blues
- These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
- Jumpin' at Mesners
- Somebody Loves Me
- I Want to Be Happy
- Jammin' With Lester
- After You've Gone
- Lover, Come Back to Me
- Lester Leaps In
- She's Funny That Way
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- Lester's Be-Bop
- Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
- Lester Smooths It Out
- I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
- This Year's Kisses
- September in the Rain
- Red Boy Blues
- I Want to Be Happy
- Up 'n Adam
- Pres Returns
- Just You, Just Me
- Too Marvelous for Words
- Three Little Words
- I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
- The Man I Love
- Just You, Just Me
- Just You, Just Me
- I Never Knew
- I Never Knew
- Afternoon of a Basie-Ite
- Afternoon of a Basie-Ite
- Sometimes I'm Happy (Alt)
- Sometimes I'm Happy
- After Theatre Jump (Alt)
- After Theatre Jump
- Six Cats and a Prince (Alt)
- Six Cats and a Prince
- Six Cats and a Prince
- Lester Leaps Again
- Destination K. C.
- Destination K. C.
- I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
- I Didn't Know What Time It Was
- Gigantic Blues
- This Year's Kisses
- You Can Depend on Me
- Salute to Benny
- They Can't Take That Away From Me
- Romping
- Gypsy in My Soul
- Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
- Ballad Medley: The Very Thought of You / I Want a Little Girl / Blue & Sentimental
- Mean to Me
Born: 1909-08-27
Died: 1959-03-15
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Billie Holiday and Lester Young: Fine and Mellow
Billie Holiday and Lester Young: Fine and Mellow
http://wn.com/Billie_Holiday_and_Lester_Young_Fine_and_Mellow
Lester Young - Mean To Me (1958)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:09
- Published: 20 Jul 2010
- Updated: 29 Feb 2012
- Author: frederikolsen
A rare Lester Young performance of "Mean To Me" on "Art Ford's Jazz Party", September 25, 1958. Broadcast by Danmarks Radio. Sound portion originally released as Enigma 301.
http://wn.com/Lester_Young__Mean_To_Me_1958
Lester Young & Teddy Wilson - All of Me
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Published: 17 Feb 2009
- Updated: 28 Feb 2012
- Author: ShEiKyErButTi
The 'Pres' Lester Young on tenor sax in the company of Messrs. Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and 'Papa' Jo Jones on drums give us some of the finest jazz ever put on record on this 1956 historic date, one of those rare, magical moments where everything falls into place magnificently, enjoy.
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_Teddy_Wilson__All_of_Me
Billie Holiday and Lester Young
the Pres seranades Billy Holiday with the smoothest sax solo ever.
http://wn.com/Billie_Holiday_and_Lester_Young
Lester Young - Blues for Greasy (1950)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:14
- Published: 14 Dec 2008
- Updated: 27 Feb 2012
- Author: kenjames64
Life Magazine photographer Gjon Mili joined with jazz producer and Verve-label owner Norman Granz to produce the short film "Jammin' the Blues" in 1944 with Lester Young, Red Callendar, Harry Edison, "Big" Sid Catlett, Illinois Jacquet, Barney Kessel, Jo Jones and Marie Bryant. The film was nominated for Best Short Subject at the 1945 Academy Awards, but didn't win. The pair came together again in 1950 to shoot footage of leading jazz artists of the day, but when funding dried up, the film ceased production and sat on shelves for 50 years (except for a few snippets which found their way onto bootlegs). Blues For Greasy is one of those pieces shot by Gjon Mili and Norman Granz, using musicians from his Jazz at the Philharmonic tour. Harry 'Sweets' Edison: trumpet Lester Young: Tenor Sax Flip Phillips: Tenor Sax Bill Harris: Trombone Hank Jones: Piano Ray Brown: Bass Buddy Rich: Drums Ella Fitzgerald: Vocals
http://wn.com/Lester_Young__Blues_for_Greasy_1950
Lester Young - Oscar Peterson Trio 1952 ~ Ad-Lib Blues
Recorded: New York City, NY August 4, 1952 Personnel: Lester Young - Tenor Sax Oscar Peterson - Piano Barney Kessel - Guitar Ray Brown - Bass JC Heard - Drums
http://wn.com/Lester_Young__Oscar_Peterson_Trio_1952_~_Ad-Lib_Blues
Lester Young - Ghost of a chance
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:49
- Published: 17 Oct 2009
- Updated: 24 Feb 2012
- Author: helluvagun
Live broadcast january 21th 1951: Lester Young - ts, Jonah Jones-trp, John Lewis - p, Geney Ramey - b, Joe Jones - d
http://wn.com/Lester_Young__Ghost_of_a_chance
Lester Young On Savoy 1944 ~ These Foolish Things
Recorded: New York City NY April 18, 1944 Personnel: Lester Young - Tenor Sax Billy Butterfield - Trumpet Hank D'Amico - Clarinet Dexter Hall - Guitar Johnny Guarnieri - Piano Billy Taylor - Bass Cozy Cole - Drums
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_On_Savoy_1944_~_These_Foolish_Things
Lester Young 1939 ~ Lester Leaps In (Take 1)
Recorded: New York City, NY September 5,1939 Personnel: Count Basie Kansas City Seven Lester Young - Tenor Sax Buck Clayton - Trumpet Dicky Wells - Trombone Count Basie - Piano Freddie Green - Guitar Walter Page - Bass Jo Jones -Drums
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_1939_~_Lester_Leaps_In_Take_1
Lester Young's Last Interview 1959 ~ On Reading Music
Conducted by French Jazz enthusiast Francois Positif in Paris, France on February 6, 1959 - a few weeks before Lester's death on March 15 of that year. Note: Colorful Language
http://wn.com/Lester_Young's_Last_Interview_1959_~_On_Reading_Music
Charlie Christian w/ Lester Young - Kansas City Six 1939 ~ Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
Recorded: Live at Carnegie Hall New York, NYDecember 24, 1939 Personnel: Lester Young - Tenor Sax Charlie Christian - Electric Guitar Freddie Green - Rhythm Guitar Buck Clayton - Trumpet Walter Page - Bass Jo Jones - Drums
http://wn.com/Charlie_Christian_w/_Lester_Young__Kansas_City_Six_1939_~_Way_Down_Yonder_In_New_Orleans
Prisoner of love - The Lester Young and Teddy Wilson Quartet
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:41
- Published: 19 Feb 2010
- Updated: 25 Feb 2012
- Author: domtheodore
Prisoner of Love - The Lester Young and Teddy Wilson Quartet from "Pres and Teddy" (Verve, 1956) Simply one of the best jazz albums ever. Enjoy.
http://wn.com/Prisoner_of_love__The_Lester_Young_and_Teddy_Wilson_Quartet
Lester Young 1944 ~ Blue Lester
Recorded: New York City, New York, January 1944 Personnel: Lester Young - Tenor Sax Count Basie - Piano Freddie Green - Guitar Rodney Richardson - Bass Shadow Wilson - Drums
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_1944_~_Blue_Lester
Lester Young- DB (Detention Barrack) Blues
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:01
- Published: 25 Feb 2010
- Updated: 09 Feb 2012
- Author: lestephenois1
So smooth....
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_DB_Detention_Barrack_Blues
Lester Young - Sweet Georgia Brown
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:15
- Published: 24 Jun 2011
- Updated: 15 Jan 2012
- Author: theHellzapoppin
Recorded In New York, 1948 Lester Young - ts Jesse Drakes - tp Ted Kelly - tb Freddy Jefferson - p Tex Briscoe - b Roy Haynes -dr
http://wn.com/Lester_Young__Sweet_Georgia_Brown
Almost Like Being In Love - Lester Young With the Oscar Peterson Trio
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Published: 19 Feb 2009
- Updated: 14 Feb 2012
- Author: SolidusLiquid
Babymakin' music Enjoy
http://wn.com/Almost_Like_Being_In_Love__Lester_Young_With_the_Oscar_Peterson_Trio
Jammin' The Blues
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:13
- Published: 22 Jun 2007
- Updated: 29 Feb 2012
- Author: swinginglance
1944 Lester Young and others - Jammin' the Blues Dancers - Lindy Hop legends Archie Savage and Marie Bryant
http://wn.com/Jammin'_The_Blues
1946 Charlie Parker Jazz - LADY BE GOOD - 9 Minutes of LIVE Jammin'
Went to a garage sale today and picked up a 12 inch 78 rpm record with a label I've never seen before, called DISC NEW YORK. Song title was Lady Be Good by Gershwin - instrumental. Almost left it behind, just got it because it had an unusual label and only cost 50c, but when I played it there was some of the finest jazz I've ever heard! Took a close look at the small print on the label and it listed Lester Young, Willie Smith, Charlie Parker, Howard McGhee, Arnold Ross, Lee Young, and Billy Hadnot. This is part of Norman Granz' Jazz At The Philharmonic series recorded in 1946. The song is in 2 parts, both sides of a 12 inch record and are in the video so you get the entire show. Almost 9 minutes of live jazz jammin' by some great jazzmen. Thanks to the folks who shared information about this recording. Learn something new every day! Enjoy!
http://wn.com/1946_Charlie_Parker_Jazz__LADY_BE_GOOD__9_Minutes_of_LIVE_Jammin'
Lester Young Centennial Celebration
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:15
- Published: 03 Oct 2009
- Updated: 29 Jan 2012
- Author: JazzVideoGuy
This collection celebrates the mature Lester Young of the 1950s, a reminder of a time when he would blow into town for a week performing with a local rhythm section, or for a one-night appearance as part of an all-star, Jazz at the Philharmonic tour. A time when his powers of eloquence and subtlety remained undiminished, while his tone had developed a more mature-one could say darker-edge. For more, please visit: tinyurl.com
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_Centennial_Celebration
Lester Young 1956 ~ This Year's Kisses
Recorded: Fine Sound Studios, New Your City, NY January 12, 1956 Personnel: Lester Young - Tenor Sax Vic Dickenson - Trombone Roy Eldridge - Trumpet Teddy Wilson - Piano Freddie Green - Guitar Gene Ramey - Bass Jo Jones - Drums
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_1956_~_This_Year's_Kisses
Lester Young Quintet - Indiana
Lester Young Quintet - (Back Home Again in) Indiana (1944) Personnel: Lester Young (tenor sax), Count Basie (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Rodney Richardson (bass), Shadow Wilson (drums) from the album 'THE IMMORTAL LESTER YOUNG'
http://wn.com/Lester_Young_Quintet__Indiana
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Lester Young at 102
04 Oct 2011
New Yorker
He was born in 1909 and was famously kicked out of Fletcher Henderson's band in the early thirties for not sounding enough like Coleman Hawkins, his predecessor in the tenor-sax chair. Lester Young, with his light and lunar tone, oblique angles, abrupt interpolations, and deceptively radical...(size: 3.0Kb)
Young not worried about Lester's outing
03 Apr 2011
MLB
ARLINGTON -- A day after the second no-strikeout game of Jon Lester's career, his new pitching coach suggested there was little reason that Red Sox followers should be concerned about the ace left-hander. Many of Lester's fastballs were in the low 90s instead of the mid 90s, but that might have been...(size: 6.0Kb)
The Providence Journal
NEW YORK - As 's wins pile up - he has 19 after a convincing win Saturday, with a chance for 20 in his final start - he is making a case that he is the unsung pitcher in the American League Cy Young debate. Lester is a late bloomer, a pitcher who starts off poorly and finishes strong, and he is...(size: 3.4Kb)
Flavorpill
92nd Street Y (92Y) says: Lester Young’s lyrical innovations...(size: 0.5Kb)
The Providence Journal
BOSTON - didn't pitch around Ty Wigginton, exactly, with runners on first and third and one out in the first inning on Saturday. "We were going after him," Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash said. "A guy like Jon or Josh [Beckett] or [John] Lackey, those guys, in the first inning, they're going to go right...(size: 3.7Kb)
Predictions: Jon Lester will win AL Cy Young
06 Apr 2010
The Examiner
Jon Lester will benefit from an improved defense. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) If you like this ... Predictions: Yankees are still the team to beat in the AL Five questions facing the Red Sox going into the season View all »...(size: 6.1Kb)
Kansas City Star
Lester Young More News In our current economic malaise, we're hearing much about the 1930s. Will our new administration succeed in avoiding the deflation and gloom we associate with that gray decade? Sure we'll get through it eventually, but until then I have a prescription for staving off the...(size: 5.7Kb)
The Examiner
All About Jazz News - 34 mins ago Rifftides postings have been seldom lately because I'm working on a magazine piece about the resuscitation of Lester Young's tenor saxophone and the consequent revival of a band devoted to his music. More about that later. In the meantime, here's a set...(size: 2.7Kb)
Being Prez: The life and music of Lester Young
11 Nov 2007
Indianapolis Star
By Dave Gelly (Oxford University Press, $23.95) Striking the right balance between the life and the art of any major artist is a biographer's chief occupational challenge.Not only does Dave Gelly keep the proportions just about perfect in "Being Prez: The Life and Music of Lester Young," he does it...(size: 2.2Kb)
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°37′40″N |
|---|---|
| name | Lester Young |
| background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| birth name | Lester Willis Young |
| alias | "Prez" |
| born | August 27, 1909Woodville, Mississippi, U.S. |
| died | March 15, 1959New York City, New York, U.S. |
| origin | Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| instrument | Tenor saxophone, clarinet |
| genre | Jazz |
| occupation | Saxophonist, clarinetist |
| years active | 1933–1959 |
| label | Verve |
| notable instruments | }} |
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument, playing with a cool tone and using sophisticated harmonies. He invented or popularized much of the hipster ethos which came to be associated with the music.
Early life and career
Lester Young was born in Woodville, Mississippi and grew up in a musical family. Young's father, Willis Handy Young, was a respected teacher, his brother Lee Young was a drummer, and several other relatives played music professionally. His family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana when Lester was an infant and later to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although at a very young age Young did not initially know his father, he learned that his father was a musician. Later Willis taught his son to play the trumpet, violin, and drums in addition to the saxophone.Lester Young played in his family's band in both the vaudeville and carnival circuits. He left the family band in 1927 at the age of 18 because he refused to tour in the Southern United States, where Jim Crow laws were in effect and racial segregation was required in public facilities.
With the Count Basie Orchestra
In 1933 Young settled in Kansas City, where after playing briefly in several bands, he rose to prominence with Count Basie. His playing in the Basie band was characterized by a relaxed style which contrasted sharply with the aggressive approach of Coleman Hawkins, the dominant tenor sax player of the day.Young left the Basie band to replace Hawkins in Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. He soon left Henderson to play in the Andy Kirk band (for six months) before returning to Basie. While with Basie, Young made small-group recordings for Milt Gabler's Commodore Records, ''The Kansas City Sessions''. Although they were recorded in New York (in 1938, with a reunion in 1944), they are named after the group, the Kansas City Seven, and comprised Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Basie, Young, Freddie Green, Rodney Richardson and Jo Jones. Young played clarinet as well as tenor in these sessions. He was a master of the clarinet, and there too, his style was entirely his own. As well as the ''Kansas City Sessions'', his clarinet work from 1938-39 is documented on recordings with Basie, Billie Holiday, Basie small groups, and the organist Glenn Hardman.
After Young's clarinet was stolen in 1939, he abandoned the instrument until about 1957. That year Norman Granz gave him one and urged him to play it (with far different results at that stage in Young's life - see below).
Leaving Basie
Young left the Basie band in late 1940. He is rumored to have refused to play with the band on Friday, December 13 of that year for superstitious reasons, spurring his dismissal, although the validity of this rumor has been widely disputed. Lester left the band around that time and subsequently led a number of small groups that often included his brother, noted drummer Lee Young, for the next couple of years; live and broadcast recordings from this period exist.During this period, Young accompanied the singer Billie Holiday in a couple of studio sessions in 1940 and 1941, and also made a small set of recordings with Nat "King" Cole (their first of several collaborations) in June 1942. His studio recordings are relatively sparse during the 1942 to 1943 period, largely due to the American Federation of Musicians' recording ban.
In December 1943, Young returned to the Basie fold for a 10-month stint, cut short by his being drafted into the army during World War II (see below). Recordings made during this and subsequent periods suggest Young was beginning to make much greater use of a plastic reed, which tended to give his playing a somewhat heavier, breathier tone (although still quite smooth compared to that of many other players). While he never abandoned the wooden reed, he used the plastic reed a significant share of the time from 1943 until the end of his life. Another cause for the thickening of his tone around this time was a change in saxophone mouthpiece from a metal Otto Link to an ebonite Brilhart. In August 1944, Young appeared alongside drummer Jo Jones, trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, and fellow tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet in Gjon Mili's short film ''Jammin' the Blues''.
Army service
In September 1944, Young and Jo Jones were in Los Angeles with the Basie Band when they were inducted into the U.S. Army. Unlike many white musicians, who were placed in band outfits such as the ones led by Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw, Young was assigned to the regular army where he was not allowed to play his saxophone. Based in Ft. McClellan, Alabama, Young was found with marijuana and alcohol among his possessions. He was soon court-martialed. Young did not fight the charges and was convicted. He served one year in a detention barracks and was dishonorably discharged in late 1945. His experience inspired his composition "D.B. Blues" (with D.B. standing for detention barracks).Some jazz historians have argued that Young's playing power declined in the years following his army experience, though critics such as Scott Yanow disagree with this entirely. Recordings show that his playing began to change before he was drafted. Some argue that Young's playing had an increasingly emotional slant to it, and the post-war period featured some of his greatest renditions of ballads.
Post-war recordings
Young's career after World War II was far more prolific and lucrative than in the pre-war years, in terms of recordings made, live performances, and annual income. Young joined Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) troupe in 1946, touring regularly with them over the next 12 years. He made a significant number of studio recordings under Granz's supervision for his Verve Records label as well, including more trio recordings with Nat King Cole. Young also recorded extensively in the late 1940s for Aladdin Records (1946-7, where he had made the Cole recordings in 1942), and for Savoy (1944, '49 and '50) some sessions of which included Basie on piano.While the quality and consistency of his playing ebbed gradually in the latter half of the 1940s and into the early 1950s, he also gave some brilliant performances during this stretch. Especially noteworthy are his performances with JATP in 1946, 1949, and 1950. With Young at the 1949 JATP concert at Carnegie Hall were Charlie Parker and Roy Eldridge, and Young's solo on "Lester Leaps In" at that concert is a particular standout among his performances in the latter half of his career.
Struggle and revival
From around 1951, Young's level of playing began to decline more precipitously, as he began to drink more and more heavily. His playing showed reliance on a small number of clichéd phrases and reduced creativity and originality, despite his claims that he did not want to be a "repeater pencil" (Young coined this phrase to describe the act of repeating one's own past ideas). A comparison of his studio recordings from 1952, such as the session with pianist Oscar Peterson, and those from 1953–1954 (all available on the Verve label) also demonstrates a declining command of his instrument and sense of timing, possibly due to both mental and physical factors. Young's playing and health went into a crisis, culminating in a November 1955 hospital admission following a nervous breakdown.He emerged from this treatment improved. In January 1956 he recorded two Granz-produced sessions featuring pianist Teddy Wilson (who had led the Billie Holiday recordings with Young in the 1930s), trumpet player Roy Eldridge, trombonist Vic Dickenson, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Jo Jones - available on the ''Jazz Giants '56'' and ''Prez and Teddy'' albums. 1956 was a relatively good year for Lester Young, including a tour of Europe with Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Quartet and a successful stint at Olivia's Patio Lounge in Washington, DC.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Young had sat in on Count Basie Orchestra gigs from time to time. The best-known of these is their July 1957 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, the line-up including many of Lester's old buddies: Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet and Jimmy Rushing. His playing was in better shape, and he produced some of the old, smooth toned flow of the 1930s. Among other tunes he played a moving "Polkadots and Moonbeams", which was a favorite of his at that time.
The final years
On December 8, 1957, Young appeared with Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, and Gerry Mulligan in the CBS television special ''The Sound of Jazz'', performing Holiday's tunes "Lady Sings The Blues" and "Fine and Mellow". It was a reunion with Holiday, with whom he'd fallen out of contact for years. She was also in decline at the end of her career, and they both gave moving performances. Young's solo was brilliant, considered by many jazz musicians an unparalleled marvel of economy, phrasing and extraordinarily moving emotion. But, Young seemed gravely ill, and was the only horn player who was seated (except during his solo) during the performance. By this time his alcoholism had cumulative effect. He was eating significantly less, drinking more and more, and suffering from liver disease and malnutrition. Young's sharply diminished physical strength in the final two years of his life yielded some recordings with a frail tone, shortened phrases, and, on rare occasions, a difficulty in getting any sound to come out of his horn at all.Lester Young made his final studio recordings and live performances in Paris in March 1959 with drummer Kenny Clarke at the tail end of an abbreviated European tour during which he ate next to nothing and virtually drank himself to death. He died in the early morning hours of March 15, 1959, only hours after arriving back in New York, at the age of 49. He was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn. According to jazz critic Leonard Feather, who rode with Holiday in a taxi to Young's funeral, she said, "I'll be the next one to go." Holiday died four months later at age 44.
Posthumous dedications and influence
Charles Mingus dedicated an elegy, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", for Young only a few months after his death. Wayne Shorter, then of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, composed a tribute, called "Lester Left Town".Young's playing style influenced many other tenor saxophonists. Perhaps the most famous and successful of these were Stan Getz and Dexter Gordon, but he also influenced many in the cool movement such as Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Gerry Mulligan. Paul Quinichette modeled his style so closely on Young's that he was sometimes referred to as the 'Vice Prez' (sic). Sonny Stitt began to incorporate elements from Lester Young's approach when he made the transition to tenor saxophone. Lester Young also had a direct influence on young Charlie Parker ("Bird"), and thus the entire be-bop movement. Indeed, recordings of Parker on tenor sax are similar in style to that of Young. Lesser known saxophonists, such as Warne Marsh, were strongly influenced by Young.
Don Byron recorded the album ''Ivey-Divey'' in gratitude of what he learned from studying Lester Young's work, modeled after a 1946 trio date with Buddy Rich and Nat King Cole. "Ivey-Divey" was one of Lester Young's common eccentric phrases.
Young is a major character in English writer Geoff Dyer's 1991 fictional book about jazz, ''But Beautiful''. "The Resurrection of Lady Lester" by OyamO (Charles F. Gordon) is a play and published book depicting Young's life; subtitled "A Poetic Mood Song Based on the Legend of Lester Young".
In the 1986 film ''Round Midnight'', the fictional main character Dale Turner, played by Dexter Gordon, was partly based on Young - incorporating flashback references to his army experiences, and loosely depicting his time in Paris and his return to New York just before his death.
Acid Jazz/boogaloo band the Greyboy Allstars song "Tenor Man" is a tribute to Young. On their 1999 album "Live", saxophonist Karl Denson introduces the song by saying, "now some folks may have told you that Lester Young is out of style, but we're here to tell you that the Prez is happenin' right now." Those were literally the lyrics Rahsaan Roland Kirk wrote and sang to the melody of the Charles Mingus elegy, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat".
Peter Straub's short story collection ''Magic Terror'' (2000) contains a story called "Pork Pie Hat", a fictional account of the life of Lester Young. Straub was inspired by Young's appearance on the 1957 CBS-TV show, ''The Sound of Jazz'', which he watched repeatedly, wondering how such a genius could have ended up such a human wreck.
He is said to have popularized the term cool as slang for something fashionable. Another slang term he coined was the term "bread" for money. He would ask "How does the bread smell?" when asking how much a gig was going to pay.
Discography
As member of Basie band
Solo career
References
External links
Category:1909 births Category:1959 deaths Category:People from Woodville, Mississippi Category:Swing saxophonists Category:Swing clarinetists Category:Cool jazz saxophonists Category:American clarinetists Category:American jazz saxophonists Category:American jazz clarinetists Category:Burials at the Cemetery of the Evergreens Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Count Basie Orchestra members Category:African American musicians Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Vocalion Records artists Category:People from the Kansas City metropolitan area Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Alcohol-related deaths in New York
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:''For the Canadian radio personality with the same name, see Billie Holiday (broadcaster)''
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan, April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.
1936: "Billie's Blues aka I Love My Man"
1939: "Our Love Is Different"
1939: "Long Gone Blues"
1939: "Fine and Mellow"
1939: "Everything Happens For The Best"
1940: "Tell Me More and More and Then Some"
1941: "God Bless the Child"
1944: "Don't Explain"
1949: "Somebody's On My Mind"
1949: "Now or Never"
1954: "Stormy Blues"
1956: "Lady Sings the Blues"
1939: "Lost At the Crossroads of Love"
1940: "Say I'm Yours Again"
1949: "Close Dem Eyes My Darlin'"
1952: "Please Don't Do It In Here"
1952: "You'd Do It Anyway"
1955: "Preacher Boy"
1957: "I'm Left Alone"
1957: "Who Needs You (Baby)"
1972, Diana Ross portrayed Holiday in the film ''Lady Sings the Blues'', which is loosely based on the 1956 autobiography of the same name. The film earned Ross a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
She was portrayed by Ernestine Jackson in the play ''Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill'' by Lanie Robertson.
Paula Jai Parker portrayed Holiday in a Season 7 episode of the TV series ''Touched by an Angel'', entitled "God Bless the Child," the title derived from a song which Holiday had written and performed.
Jazz pianist Mal Waldron performed as Holiday's accompanist and released several tribute albums including:
* ''Left Alone'' (Bethlehem, 1959)
* ''Blues for Lady Day'' (Black Lion, 1972)
* ''Left Alone '86'' with Jackie McLean (Paddle Wheel, 1986)
* ''No More Tears (For Lady Day)'' (Timeless, 1989)
1987, Billie Holiday was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
1993, R&B; singer Miki Howard released an album dedicated to Holiday titled ''Miki Sings Billie''.
1994, the United States Postal Service introduced a Billie Holiday postage stamp.
1999, Holiday ranked #6 on VH1's ''100 Greatest Women in Rock n' Roll''.
2000, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1988 the group U2 released "Angel of Harlem" in her honor.
Arthur Phillips features Holiday's 1953 concert in New York in his novel ''The Song is You'' (2009).
"My Only Friend" by The Magnetic Fields is a tribute to Billie Holiday.
1959: ''Chelsea at Nine''
1957: ''The Sound of Jazz'', CBS Television, December 8, 1957
1950: '''Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet''
1947: ''New Orleans''
1935: "Symphony in Black", short (with Duke Ellington)
1933: ''The Emperor Jones'', appeared as an extra
1949
| Adventures in Jazz
| Fred Robbins
| Unknown Songs
|-
| 8/27/1949
| Arlene Francis Show, NY (1)
| Arlene Francis
| The Man I Love, All of Me, Lover Man
|-
| 8/27/1949
| Eddie Condon's Floor Show, NY (1)
| Eddie Condon
| I Love My Man, Keeps on Rainin', Lover Man
|-
| 9/3/1949
| Eddie Condon's Floor Show, NY (1)
| Eddie Condon
| Fine & Mellow, Porgy, Them There Eyes, I Love My Man
|-
| 9/10/1949
| Art Ford Show, NY (1)
| Art Ford
| Lover Man, I Cover the Waterfront, Two Minute Interview, All of Me
|-
| 10/15/1949
| Art Ford Show, NY (1)
| Art Ford
| Them There Eyes, Detour Ahead, Now or Never
|-
| 1/7/1950
| Eddie Condon's Floor Show, NY
| Eddie Condon
| Unknown
|-
| 5/24/1950
| Apollo Theatre Show, NY (1)
| -
| You're My Thrill
|-
| 7/25/1951
| Apollo Theatre Show, NY (1)
| -
| My Man
|-
| 12/10/1952
| Apollo Theatre Show, NY (1)
| Count Basie
| Tenderly
|-
| 10/16/1953
| The Comeback Story, NY (1)
| George Jessel
| Twenty Minute Interview, God Bless the Child
|-
| 2/8/1955
| The Tonight Show, NY (1)
| Steve Allen
| My Man, Them There Eyes, Lover Man
|-
| 2/10/1956
| The Tonight Show, NY (1)
| Steve Allen
| Please Don't Talk About Me, Two Minute Interview, Ghost of a Chance
|-
| 8/19/1956
| Star's of Jazz, LA, CA (2)
| Bobby Troup
| Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone, Billie's Blues, My Man
|-
| 10/29/1956
| Bandstand USA, NY (1)
| Bert Parks
| Willow Weep for Me, I Only Have Eyes for You, My Man, Please Don't Talk About Me
|-
| 11/7/1956
| Night Beat, NY (1)
| Mike Wallace
| Fifteen Minute Interview
|-
| 11/8/1956
| Peacock Alley, NY (1)
| Tex McCleary
| Twenty Minute Interview
|-
| 11/8/1956
| The Tonight Show, NY (1)
| Steve Allen
| Porgy
|-
| 3/11/1957
| Live Broadcast from Mr. Kelly's, Chicago (1)
| -
| Good Morning Heartache, You Better Go Now
|-
| 12/8/1957
| The Seven Lively Arts: The Sound of Jazz, LA (2)
| -
| Fine & Mellow
|-
| 4/12/1958
| Club Oasis, NY (1)
| Martha Raye
| You've Changed, My Man
|-
| 5/26/1958
| Telethon, NY
| Dean Martin
| Unknown Songs
|-
| 5/29/1958
| Art Ford's Jazz Party, NY (2)
| Art Ford
| You've Changed, I Love My Man, When Your Lover Has Gone
|-
| 6/5/1958
| Art Ford's Jazz Party, NY
| Art Ford
| All of Me, Good Morning Heartache, Travelin’ Light
|-
| 7/10/1958
| Art Ford's Jazz Party, NY (2)
| Art Ford
| What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Foolin' Myself, It's Easy to Remember
|-
| 7/17/1958
| Art Ford's Jazz Party, NY (2)
| Art Ford
| Moanin' Low, Don't Explain, When Your Lover Has Gone
|-
| 9/25/1958
| Today Show
| Dave Garroway
| My Funny Valentine
|-
| 11/18/1958
| Mars Club, Music Hall Parade Voyons Un Peu, Paris France (2)
| -
| I Only Have Eyes for You, Travelin’ Light
|-
| 11/20/1958
| Gilles Margaritis Programme, Paris France
| Gilles Margaritis
| I Only Have Eyes For You, Trav'lin' Light
|-
| 1/7/1959
| Timex All-Star Jazz Show IV, NY
| Jackie Gleason
| Unknown
|-
| 2/23/1959
| Chelsea at Nine, London, England (2)
| Robert Beatty
| Porgy, Please Don't Talk About Me, Strange Fruit
|}
Official Billie Holiday at Sony BMG
Billie Holiday discography
Biography and song samples at PBS
"Twelve Essential Billie Holiday Recordings" by Stuart Nicholson, Jazz.com
Photograph of Holiday's gravestone
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°37′40″N |
|---|---|
| name | Billie Holiday |
| background | solo_singer |
| birth name | Eleanora Fagan |
| alias | Lady Day |
| birth date | April 07, 1915 |
| birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| death date | July 17, 1959 |
| death place | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| origin | Harlem, New York, U.S. |
| instrument | Vocals |
| genre | Vocal jazz, jazz blues, torch songs, swing |
| occupation | Singer, songwriter |
| years active | 1933–1959 |
| label | Brunswick, Vocalion, Okeh, Bluebird, Commodore, Capitol, Decca, Aladdin, Verve, Columbia, MGM |
| associated acts | Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne |
| website | Billie Holiday Official Site }} |
Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday "changed the art of American pop vocals forever." She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child", "Don't Explain", "Fine and Mellow", and "Lady Sings the Blues". She also became famous for singing "Easy Living", "Good Morning Heartache", and "Strange Fruit", a protest song which became one of her standards and was made famous with her 1939 recording.
Early life and education
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan (née Harris). Her father, Clarence Halliday (Holiday), a musician, did not marry or live with her mother. Her mother had moved to Philadelphia when thirteen, after being ejected from her parents' home in Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimore for becoming pregnant. With no support from her own parents, Holiday's mother arranged for the young Holiday to stay with her older married half sister, Eva Miller, who lived in Baltimore. Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood, her mother often took what were then known as "transportation jobs", serving on the passenger railroads. Holiday was left to be raised largely by Eva Miller's mother-in-law, Martha Miller, and suffered from her mother's absences and leaving her in others' care for much of the first ten years of her life. (Holiday's autobiography, ''Lady Sings the Blues'', first published in 1956, was sketchy about details of her early life, but much was confirmed by Stuart Nicholson in his 1995 biography of the singer.)Some historians have disputed Holiday's paternity, as a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives lists the father as "Frank DeViese". Other historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker. Frank DeViese lived in Philadelphia and Sadie Harris may have known him through her work.
Sadie Harris, then known as Sadie Fagan, married Philip Gough, but the marriage was over in two years. Holiday was left with Martha Miller again while her mother took further transportation jobs. Holiday frequently skipped school and her truancy resulted in her being brought before the juvenile court on January 5, 1925 when she was not yet 10. She was sent to The House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school. She was baptized there on March 19, 1925 and after nine months in care, was "paroled" on October 3, 1925 to her mother, who had opened a restaurant called the East Side Grill, where she and Holiday worked long hours. By the age of 11, the girl had dropped out of school.
Holiday's mother returned to their home on December 24, 1926, to discover a neighbor, Wilbur Rich, raping Holiday. Rich was arrested. Officials placed the girl at the House of the Good Shepherd in protective custody as a state witness in the rape case. Holiday was released in February 1927, nearly 12. Holiday and her mother wound up living with and working for a madam. During this time, Holiday first heard the records of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother decided to try her luck in Harlem, New York and left Holiday again with Martha Miller.
Early singing career
During her final period of separation from her mother, Holiday began to perform the songs she learned while working in the brothel. By early 1929, Holiday joined her mother in Harlem. Their landlady was a sharply dressed woman named Florence Williams, who ran a whorehouse at 151 West 140th Street. In order to live, Holiday's mother became a prostitute and, within a matter of days of arriving in New York, Holiday, who had not yet turned fourteen, also became a prostitute for $5 a time. On May 2, 1929, the house was raided, and Holiday and her mother were sent to prison. After spending some time in a workhouse, her mother was released in July, followed by Holiday in October, at the age of 14.Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and the musician Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name ''Halliday'', the birth-surname of her father, but eventually changed it to ''Holiday'', his performing name. The young singer teamed up with a neighbor, tenor sax player Kenneth Hollan. From 1929 to 1931, they were a team, performing at clubs such as the Grey Dawn, Pod's and Jerry's, and the Brooklyn Elks' Club. Benny Goodman recalled hearing Holiday in 1931 at The Bright Spot. As her reputation grew, Holiday played at many clubs, including Mexico's and The Alhambra Bar and Grill where Charles Linton, a vocalist who later worked with Chick Webb, first met her. It was also during this period that she connected with her father, who was playing with Fletcher Henderson's band.
By the end of 1932 at the age of 17, Billie Holiday replaced the singer Monette Moore at a club called Covan's on West 132nd Street. The producer John Hammond, who loved Monette Moore's singing and had come to hear her, first heard Holiday in early 1933. Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut, at age 18, in November 1933 with Benny Goodman, singing two songs: "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" and "Riffin' the Scotch", the latter being her first major hit. "Son-in-Law" sold 300 copies, but "Riffin' the Scotch," released on November 11, sold 5,000 copies.
Holiday returned to the studio in 1935 with Goodman and a group led by pianist Teddy Wilson. Their first collaboration included "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," and "Miss Brown To You." The record label did not favor the recording session, because producers wanted Holiday to sound more like Cleo Brown, an established jazz singer. After "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" garnered success, however, the company began considering Holiday an artist in her own right. She began recording under her own name a year later (on the 35 cent Vocalion label), producing a series of extraordinary performances with groups comprising the swing era's finest musicians. In 1935, Billie Holiday had a small role as a woman being abused by her lover in Duke Ellington's short ''Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life''. In her scene, she sang the song "Saddest Tale."
Holiday was signed to Brunswick Records by John Hammond to record current pop tunes with Teddy Wilson in the new "swing" style for the growing jukebox trade. They were given free rein to improvise the material. Holiday's improvisation of the melody line to fit the emotion was revolutionary. With their arrangements, Wilson and Holiday took pedestrian pop tunes, such as "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" (#6 Pop) or "Yankee Doodle Never Went To Town", and turned them into jazz classics. Most of Holiday's recordings with Wilson or under her own name during the 1930s and early 1940s are regarded as important parts of the jazz vocal library. She was then in her early to late 20s.
Another frequent accompanist was the tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom Holiday had a special rapport. He said,
"Well, I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices, if you don't be careful, you know, or the same mind, or something like that."Young nicknamed her "Lady Day", and she, in turn, dubbed him "Prez". She did a three-month residency at Clark Monroe's Uptown House in New York in 1937. In the late 1930s, Holiday had brief stints as a big band vocalist with Count Basie (1937) and Artie Shaw (1938). The latter association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement for the times.
By the late 1930s, Billie Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What A Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Easy Living" were being imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming jazz standards. In 1938, Holiday's single "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" ranked 6th as the most-played song for September of that year. Her record label Vocalion listed the single as its fourth best seller for the same month. "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" peaked at number 2 on the pop charts according to Joel Whitburn's "Pop Memories: 1890-1954" book.
Commodore recordings and mainstream success (1939)
Holiday was recording for Columbia in the late 1930s when she was introduced to "Strange Fruit", a song based on a poem about lynching written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx. Meeropol used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings. It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, proprietor of Café Society, an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village, who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939, with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. Holiday later said that the imagery in "Strange Fruit" reminded her of her father's death and that this played a role in her resistance to performing it.When Holiday's producers at Columbia found the subject matter too sensitive, Milt Gabler agreed to record it for his Commodore Records. That was done on April 20, 1939, and "Strange Fruit" remained in her repertoire for twenty years. She later recorded it again for Verve. While the Commodore release did not get any airplay, the controversial song sold well, though Gabler attributed that mostly to the record's other side, "Fine and Mellow", which was a jukebox hit. "The version I did for Commodore," Holiday said of "Strange Fruit", "became my biggest selling record." "Strange Fruit" was the equivalent of a top twenty hit in the 1930s.
For her performance of "Strange Fruit" at the Café Society, she had waiters silence the crowd when the song began. During the song's long introduction, the lights dimmed and all movement had to cease. As Holiday began singing, only a small spotlight of light illuminated her face. On the final note, all lights in the club went out and when they came back on, Holiday was gone.
Holiday said her father Clarence Holiday was denied treatment for a fatal lung disorder because of prejudice and that singing "Strange Fruit" reminded her of the incident. "It reminds me of how pop died, but I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because twenty years after Pop died the things that killed him are still happening in the south," she said in her autobiography.
Holiday's popularity increased after recording "Strange Fruit". She received a mention in ''Time'' magazine. "I open Café Society as an unknown," Holiday said. "I left two years later as a star. I needed the prestige and publicity all right, but you can't pay rent with it." Holiday demanded her manager Joe Glaser give her a raise shortly after.
Holiday soon returned Commodore in 1944, recording songs she made with Teddy Wilson in the 1930s like "I Cover The Waterfront", "I'll Get By", and "He's Funny That Way". She also recorded new songs that were popular at the time, including, "My Old Flame", "How Am I To Know?", "I'm Yours", and "I'll Be Seeing You", a Bing Crosby number one hit. She also recorded her version of "Embraceable You", which would later be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.
During her time at Commodore, Billie Holiday also babysat the young Billy Crystal; his father being Jack Crystal and uncle being Milt Gabler, the co-founders of Commodore Records.
Successes (1940–1947)
Holiday's mother Sadie Fagan, nicknamed "The Duchess," started her own restaurant called Mom Holiday's. Fagan used the money her daughter earned while shooting dice with members of the Count Basie band, whom she was on tour with in the late 1930s. "It kept mom busy and happy and stopped her from worrying and watching over me," Holiday said. Soon, Fagan began borrowing large amounts of money from Holiday because the restaurant wasn't turning a profit. Holiday obliged, but soon fell upon hard times herself. "I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some," Holiday said. "So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn't give me a cent." The two argued and then, Holiday, in a rage, hollered "God bless the child that's got his own," and stormed out of the restaurant. With help from Arthur Herzog, Jr., a pianist, the two wrote a song based on the line "God Bless the Child" and added music."God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and covered record. It reached number 25 on the record charts in 1941 and ranked third in Billboard's top songs of the year, selling over a million records. In 1976, the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Herzog later claimed that Holiday contributed little to the lyrics of her music, adding only a few lines. He also stated that Holiday came up with the line "God Bless the Child" from a dinner conversation the two had.
On June 24, 1942, Holiday recorded "Trav'lin Light" with Paul Whiteman. Because she was still under contract with Columbia records, she couldn't release the song under her own name and instead used the pseudonym "Lady Day." The song was a minor success on the pop charts, reaching number 23, but hit number one on the R&B; charts, which were called the Harlem Hit Parade at the time.
In September 1943, ''Life'' magazine complimented Holiday on her work. They wrote, "she has the most distinct style of any popular vocalist and is imitated by other vocalists."
Milt Gabler eventually became an A&R; man for Decca Records, in addition to owning Commodore Records, and he signed Holiday to the label on August 7, 1944, when Holiday was 29. Her first recording for Decca was "Lover Man" (#16 Pop, #5 R&B;), one of her biggest hits. The success and wide distribution of the song made Holiday a staple in the pop community, allowing her to have her own solo concerts, a rarity for jazz singers in the late 40s. Gabler commented on the song's success, saying, "I made Billie a real pop singer. That was right in her. Billie loved those songs." Jimmy Davis and Roger "Ram" Ramirez, "Lover Man"'s songwriters, tried to get Holiday interested in recording the song in 1941, but she didn't take interest. In 1943, a flamboyant male torch singer by the name of Willie Dukes began singing "Lover Man" on 52nd Street. Because of Duke's success with the song, Holiday decided to add it to her live shows. The song's B-side is "No More", a song Holiday considered one of her favorites.
When it came time to record the song, Holiday begged Gabler for strings, which were associated with big name acts like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, to accompany her in the background. "I went on my knees to him," Holiday said. "I didn't want to do it with the ordinary six pieces. I begged Milt and told him I had to have strings behind me." On October 4, 1944, Holiday walked into the recording studio to record "Lover Man" and saw the string ensemble and walked out. The musical director for the session, Toots Camarata said she was overwhelmed with joy. Another reason for Holiday wanting to use strings may have been to dodge the comparisons made between her commercially successful early work with Teddy Wilson and everything produced afterward. Her 1930s sides with Wilson used a small jazz combo. Her recordings with Decca often involved string ensembles and presented her voice in a new light.
A month later, in November, Billie Holiday returned to the Decca studio to record three songs, "That Ole Devil Called Love", "Big Stuff", and "Don't Explain". Holiday wrote "Don't Explain" after she caught her husband, Jimmy Monroe, with lipstick on his collar.
After the recording session, Holiday did not return to the studio until August 1945. She recorded "Don't Explain", "Big Stuff", "What Is This Thing Called Love?", and "You Better Go Now". Ella Fitzgerald declared "You Better Go Now" as her favorite Billie Holiday recording. "Big Stuff" and "Don't Explain" were recorded again but with additional strings and a viola.
In 1946, Holiday recorded one of her most covered and critically acclaimed songs, "Good Morning Heartache". Although the song failed to chart, it remained a staple in her live shows with three known live recordings of the song.
In September 1946, Holiday began work on what would be her only major film ''New Orleans''. She starred opposite Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman. Plagued by racism and McCarthyism, producer Jules Levey and script writer Herbert Biberman were pressured to lessen Holiday and Armstrong's role in the film as to not give the impression that black people created jazz. Their attempts failed because in 1947 Biberman was listed as one of the Hollywood Ten and sent to jail.
Holiday was not pleased that her role was reduced to that of a maid: "I thought I was going to play myself in it," she said. "I thought I was going to be Billie Holiday doing a couple of songs in a nightclub setting and that would be that. I should have known better. When I saw the script, I did." Before filming, Holiday was assigned a dramatic coach who coached her on how to properly say "Miss Marylee", the lead character's name. "So this coach was trying to get the right kind of tom feeling into this thing," Holiday said. At one point, after feeling cornered and unable to walk off the set, she burst out into tears. Louis Armstrong tried comforting her. "Better look out," he said. "I know Lady, and when she starts crying, the next thing she's going to do is start fighting." Several scenes were deleted from the film. "They had taken miles of footage of music and scenes," Holiday said, "[and] none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did... and that was cut out of the picture." She recorded the track "The Blues Are Brewin'", for the film's soundtrack. Other songs included in the movie are "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" and "Farewell to Storyville".
Holiday's drug addictions were a growing problem on the set. She earned more than a thousand dollars a week from her club ventures at the time, but spent most of it on heroin. Her lover Joe Guy traveled to Hollywood while Holiday was filming and supplied her with drugs. When discovered by Joe Glaser, Holiday's manager, Guy was banned from the set.
By the late 1940s, Holiday had begun recording a number of slow, sentimental ballads. The magazine ''Metronome'' expressed its concerns in 1946 about "Good Morning Heartache," saying "there's a danger that Billie's present formula will wear thin, but up to now it's wearing well."
Legal troubles, Carnegie Hall Concert (1947–1952)
On May 16, 1947, Holiday was arrested for the possession of narcotics in her New York apartment. On May 27, 1947, she was in court. "It was called 'The United States of America versus Billie Holiday'. And that's just the way it felt," Holiday recalled. During the trial, Holiday received notice that her lawyer was not interested in coming down to the trial and representing her. "In plain English that meant no one in the world was interested in looking out for me," Holiday said. Dehydrated and unable to hold down any food, she pled guilty and asked to be sent to the hospital. The D.A. spoke up in her defense, saying, "If your honor please, this is a case of a drug addict, but more serious, however, than most of our cases, Miss Holiday is a professional entertainer and among the higher rank as far as income was concerned." By 1947, Holiday was at her commercial peak, having made a quarter of a million dollars in the three years prior. Holiday placed second in the ''Down Beat'' poll for 1946 and 1947, her highest ranking in the poll. In ''Billboard'''s July 6 issue on 1947, Holiday ranked 5 on its annual college poll of "girl singers". Jo Stafford topped the poll. In 1946, Holiday won the ''Metronome Magazine'' popularity poll.
At the end of the trial, Holiday was sentenced to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, more popularly known as "Camp Cupcake". Other notable celebrities to serve time at Alderson are Martha Stewart, Sara Jane Moore (who tried to assassinate President Ford), and Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme of the Charles Manson family of murderers.
Luckily for Holiday, she was released early (March 16, 1948) because of good behavior. When she arrived at Newark, her pianist Bobby Tucker and her dog Mister were waiting for her. The dog leaped at Holiday, knocking off her hat, and tackled her to the ground. "He began lapping me and loving me like crazy," she said. A woman overheard the commotion and thought the dog was attacking Holiday. She started screaming and soon a crowd gathered and then the press showed up. "I might just as well have wheeled into Penn Station and had a quiet little get-together with the Associated Press, United Press, and International News Service," Holiday said.
Ed Fishman (who fought with Joe Glaser to be Holiday's manager) thought of the idea to throw a comeback concert at Carnegie Hall. Holiday hesitated, unsure whether audiences were ready to accept her after the arrest. She eventually gave in, and agreed to the concert.
On March 27, 1948, Holiday played Carnegie Hall to a sold-out crowd. There were 2,700 tickets sold in advance, a record at the time for the venue. Her popularity at the time was unusual in that she didn't have a current hit record. Holiday's last song to chart was "Lover Man" in 1945, which would be her final placement on the record charts during her lifetime. Holiday did 32 songs at the Carnegie concert by her count, some of which included Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and her 30s hit "Strange Fruit". During the show, someone sent Holiday a box of gardenias. "My old trademark," Holiday said. "I took them out of box and fastened them smack to the side of my head without even looking twice." There was a hatpin in the gardenias and Holiday, unknowingly, stuck the needle deep into the side of her head. "I didn't feel anything until the blood started rushing down in my eyes and ears," she said. After the third curtain call, Holiday passed out.
On April 27, 1948, Bob Sylvester and her promoter Al Wilde arranged for Billie Holiday to do a Broadway show. Titled ''Holiday on Broadway'', it sold out and was a success for a while. "The regular music critics and drama critics came and treated us like we were legit," Holiday said. Despite the success, the show closed after three weeks.
Holiday was arrested again on January 22, 1949, inside her room at San Francisco's Hotel Mark Twain.
Holiday stated that she began using hard drugs in the early 1940s. She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941. While still married to Monroe, she became romantically involved with trumpeter Joe Guy, who was also her drug dealer, and eventually became his common-law wife. She finally divorced Monroe in 1947 and also split with Guy.
In October 1949, Holiday recorded "Crazy He Calls Me", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010. Gabler said the song was a hit, likely making it her most successful recording for Decca after "Lover Man". The record charts of the 1940s did not list songs outside the top 30, making it impossible to recognize minor pop hits. Also, by the late 1940s, despite her popularity and concert drawing power, Holiday's singles received little radio airplay. This may have been because of the bad reputation she had up to that point.
Because of her 1947 conviction, Holiday's New York City Cabaret Card was revoked, which kept her from working anywhere that sold alcohol for the remaining 12 years of her life.
The Cabaret system started in 1940 and was designed to prevent people of "bad character" from working on licensed premises. A performer had to renew his or her license every two years. This system lasted until 1967. Clubs that sold alcohol in New York were among the highest paying venues in the country. Club owners knew blacklisted performers had limited work options, so they would offer them a smaller salary. This greatly reduced Holiday's earning power. She hadn't been receiving proper royalties for her work until she signed with Decca, so her main source of revenue were her club concerts. The problem worsened when Holiday's records went out of print in the 1950s. She seldom received any money from royalties in her latter years. For instance, in 1958 Holiday received a royalty check of only 11 dollars. Also, Holiday's lawyer during the late 1950s, Earle Warren Zaidins, failed to register with BMI on all but two songs she had written or co-written, costing her potential revenue.
In 1948, Holiday played at the Ebony Club, which, because she lost her cabaret card, was against the law. Her manager at the time, John Levy, was convinced he could get her card back and allowed her to open without one. "I opened scared," Holiday said, "[I was] expecting the cops to come in any chorus and carry me off. But nothing happened. I was a huge success."
Also in 1948, Holiday recorded Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy". The single was heard by up and coming act Nina Simone. Simone covered the tune 1958, and it ended up becoming her sole top 40 hit in America.
In 1950, Holiday appeared in the Universal-International short film '''Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet'', where she sang "God Bless the Child" and "Now, Baby or Never".
''Lady Sings The Blues'' (1952–1959)
By the 1950s, Holiday's drug abuse, drinking, and relationships with abusive men caused her health to deteriorate. She appeared on the ABC reality series ''The Comeback Story'' to discuss attempts to overcome her misfortunes. Her later recordings showed the effects of declining health on her voice, as it grew coarse and no longer projected its former vibrancy.On March 28, 1957, Holiday married Louis McKay, a Mafia enforcer, who like most of the men in her life was abusive, but he did try to get her off drugs. They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, à la Arthur Murray dance schools.
Holiday's late recordings on Verve constitute about a third of her commercial recorded legacy and are as popular as her earlier work for the Columbia, Commodore and Decca labels. In later years, her voice became more fragile, but it never lost the edge that had always made it so distinctive.
Holiday's autobiography, ''Lady Sings the Blues'', was ghostwritten by William Dufty and published in 1956. Dufty, a ''New York Post'' writer and editor then married to Holiday's close friend Maely Dufty, wrote the book quickly from a series of conversations with the singer in the Duftys' 93rd Street apartment. He drew on the work of earlier interviewers as well and intended to let Holiday tell her story in her own way.
To accompany her autobiography, Holiday released an LP in June 1956 titled ''Lady Sings the Blues''. The album did not have any new material other than the title track, "Too Marvelous For Words", "Willow Weep for Me", and "I Thought About You", but had new recordings of Holiday's biggest hits. These included "Trav'lin' Light" "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child". On December 22, 1956, ''Billboard'' magazine reviewed ''Lady Sings the Blues'', calling it a worthy musical complement to her autobiography. "Holiday is in good voice now," said the reviewer, "and these new readings will be much appreciated by her following." "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child" were called classics, and "Good Morning Heartache", another reissued track in the LP, was also noted positively.
On November 10, 1956, Holiday performed two concerts before packed audiences at Carnegie Hall, a major accomplishment for any artist, especially a black artist of the segregated period of American history. Live recordings of the second Carnegie Hall concert were released on a Verve/HMV album in the UK in late 1961 called ''The Essential Billie Holiday''. The thirteen tracks included on this album featured her own songs, "I Love My Man", "Don't Explain" and "Fine And Mellow", together with other songs closely associated with her, including "Body and Soul", "My Man", and "Lady Sings the Blues" (her lyrics accompanied a tune by pianist Herbie Nichols).
The liner notes on this album were written partly by Gilbert Millstein of ''The New York Times'', who, according to these notes, served as narrator in the Carnegie Hall concerts. Interspersed among Holiday's songs, Millstein read aloud four lengthy passages from her autobiography ''Lady Sings The Blues''. He later wrote:
Millstein continued:
The critic Nat Hentoff of ''Down Beat'' magazine, who attended the Carnegie Hall concert, wrote the remainder of the sleeve notes on the 1961 album. He wrote of Holiday's performance:
Hentoff continued:
Her performance of "Fine and Mellow" on CBS's ''The Sound of Jazz'' program is memorable for her interplay with her long-time friend Lester Young. Both were less than two years from death.
Holiday first toured Europe in 1954 as part of a Leonard Feather package that also included Buddy DeFranco and Red Norvo. When she returned almost five years later, she made one of her last television appearances for Granada's ''Chelsea at Nine'' in London. Her final studio recordings were made for MGM in 1959, with lush backing from Ray Ellis and his Orchestra, who had also accompanied her on Columbia's ''Lady in Satin'' album the previous year—see below. The MGM sessions were released posthumously on a self-titled album, later re-titled and re-released as ''Last Recordings''.
Although childless, Billie Holiday had two godchildren: singer Billie Lorraine Feather, daughter of Leonard Feather, and Bevan Dufty, son of William Dufty.
Death
On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. Her funeral mass was held at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in New York City.Gilbert Millstein of ''The New York Times'', who had been the narrator at Billie Holiday's 1956 Carnegie Hall concerts and had partly written the sleeve notes for the album ''The Essential Billie Holiday'' (see above), described her death in these same 1961-dated sleeve notes:
Voice
Her distinctive delivery made Billie Holiday's performances instantly recognizable throughout her career. A master of improvisation, Billie's well-trained ear more than compensated for her lack of music education. Her voice lacked range and was somewhat thin, plus years of excessive drug use eventually altered its texture and gave it a prepossessing fragility. The emotion with which she imbued each song remained not only intact but also profound. Her last major recording, a 1958 album entitled ''Lady in Satin'', features the backing of a 40-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Ray Ellis, who said of the album in 1997:
Frank Sinatra admired Holiday, having been influenced by her performances on 52nd Street as a young man. He told ''Ebony'' magazine in 1958 about her impact:
Hit records
In 1986, Joel Whitburn's Record Research, Inc. company compiled information on the popularity of record releases from the pre-rock and roll era and created pop charts dating all the way back to the beginning of the commercial recording industry. The company's findings were published in the book ''Pop Memories 1890–1954''. Several of Holiday's records are listed on the pop charts Whitburn created.Billie Holiday began her recording career on a high note with her first major release "Riffin' the Scotch" selling 5,000 copies. The song was released under the band name "Benny Goodman & his Orchestra." accompanied Holiday more than any other musician. He and Holiday have 95 recordings together.
In July 1936, Holiday began releasing sides under her own name. These songs were released under the band name "Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra." Most noteworthy, the popular jazz standard "Summertime," sold well and was listed on the available pop charts at the time at number 12, the first time the jazz standard charted under any artist. Only Billy Stewart's R&B; version of "Summertime" reached a higher chart placement than Holiday's, charting at number 10 thirty years later in 1966.
Holiday had 16 best selling songs in 1937, making the year her most commercially successful. It was in this year that Holiday scored her sole number one hit as a featured vocalist on the available pop charts of the 1930s, "Carelessly". The hit "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", was also recorded by Ray Noble, Glen Gray and Fred Astaire whose rendering was a best seller for weeks. Holiday's version ranked 6 on the year-end single chart available for 1937.
In 1939, Holiday recorded her biggest selling record, "Strange Fruit" for Commodore, charting at number 16 on the available pop charts for the 1930s.
In 1940, ''Billboard'' began publishing its modern pop charts, which included the Best Selling Retail Records chart, the precursor to the Hot 100. None of Holiday's songs placed on the modern pop charts, partly because ''Billboard'' only published the first ten slots of the charts in some issues. Minor hits and independent releases had no way of being spotlighted.
"God Bless the Child", which went on to sell over a million copies, ranked number 3 on Billboard's year-end top songs of 1941.
On October 24, 1942, Billboard began issuing its R&B; charts. Two of Holiday's songs placed on the chart, "Trav'lin' Light" with Paul Whiteman, which topped the chart, and "Lover Man", which reached number 5.
"Trav'lin' Light" also reached 18 on Billboard's year-end chart.
Discography
Billie Holiday recorded extensively for four labels: Columbia Records, issued on its subsidiary labels Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records, and OKeh Records, from 1933 through 1942; Commodore Records in 1939 and 1944; Decca Records from 1944 through 1950; briefly for Aladdin Records in 1951; Verve Records and on its earlier imprint Clef Records; from 1952 through 1957, then again for Columbia Records from 1957 to 1958 and finally for MGM Records in 1959. Many of Holiday's recordings appeared on 78 rpm records prior to the long-playing vinyl record era, and only Clef, Verve, and Columbia issued Holiday albums during her lifetime that were not compilations of previously released material. Many compilations have been issued since her death; as well as comprehensive box sets and live recordings.
Albums
{|class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Label and Number |- | 1946 | ''Billie Holiday'' (four 78rpm records) | Commodore CR-2 |- | 1947 | ''Billie Holiday – Teddy Wilson'' (four 78rpm records) | Columbia C-61 |- | 1947 | ''A Hot Jazz Classic Set, Vol.1'' (four 78rpm records) | Columbia-135 |- | 1947 | ''Distinctive Song Stylings'' (four 78rpm records) | Decca A-652 |- | 1949 | ''Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra Featuring Billie Holiday'' (10") | Columbia CL-6040 |- | 1950 | ''An Evening With Eddie Heywood and Billie Holiday'' (10") | Commodore FL 30001 |- | 1950 | ''Ella, Lena and Billie'' (10") | Columbia CL 2531 |- | 1950 | ''Billie Holiday Sings'' (10") | Columbia CL 6129 |- | 1950 | ''Billie Holiday Volume One'' (10") | Commodore 20005 |- | 1950 | ''Billie Holiday Volume Two'' (10") | Commodore 20006 |- | 1951 | ''Favorites'' (10") | Columbia CL 6163 |- | 1951 | ''Lover Man'' (10") | Decca DL 5345 |- | 1951 (released 1964) | ''A Rare Live Recording Of Billie Holiday'' (Storyville) | M2001 |- | 1952 | ''Billie Holiday Sings'' | Clef MGC 118 (10" version) Mercury 89002 (four 78rpm records version) |- | 1953 | ''An Evening with Billie Holiday'' | Clef MGC 144 (10" version) Mercury 89028 (four 78rpm records version) |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday'' | Clef MGC 161 (10" version) Mercury 89045 (four 78rpm records version) |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday at JATP'' | Clef MGC 169 (10" version) Mercury 89053 (four 78rpm records version) |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson Orchestras'' | Columbia 33 S 1034 |- | 1954 | ''Lady Day'' | Columbia CL 637 |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday Volume One'' | Jolly Roger 5020 |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday Volume Two'' | Jolly Roger 5021 |- | 1954 | ''Billie Holiday Volume Three'' | Jolly Roger 5022 |- | 1955 | ''A Collection Of Classic Jazz Interpretations By Billie Holiday'' (10") | Columbia B-1949 |- | 1955 (released in 1958) | ''Stay with Me'' | Verve MGV 8302 |- | 1955 | ''Music For Torching'' | Clef MGC 669 / Verve MV 2595 |- | 1956 | ''Recital By Billie Holiday'' | Clef MGC 686 |- | 1956 | ''Solitude'' | Clef MGC 690 / Verve V6-8074 |- | 1956 | ''Hall Of Fame Series'' (7") | Columbia B-2534 |- | 1956 | ''Velvet Mood'' | Clef MGC 713 |- | 1956 | ''Billie Holiday at JATP'' | Verve MGC 718 |- | 1956 | ''The Lady Sings'' | Decca DL 8215 |- | 1956 | ''Lady Sings the Blues'' | Clef MGC 721 / Verve MV 2047 |- | 1956 (released in 1959) | ''All or Nothing at All'' | Verve MGV 8329 |- | 1956 (released 1961) | ''Carnegie Hall Concert'' | Verve V6-8410 |- | 1957 (released 1958) | ''Songs for Distingué Lovers'' | Verve MGV 8257 / Verve 2352 085 |- | 1957 (released 1960) | ''Body and Soul'' | Verve MGV 8197 |- | 1957 | ''Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport'' | Verve MGV 8234 |- | 1957 (released 1999) | ''A Midsummer Night's Jazz at Stratford '57'' | Baldwin Street 308 |- | 1957 | ''Sound of Jazz'' | Columbia CL 1098 |- | 1958 | ''Lady in Satin'' | Columbia CL 1157 |- | 1958 | ''The Blues Are Brewin`'' | Decca DL 8701 |- | 1958 | ''Lover Man'' | Decca DL 8702 |- | 1958 | ''Billie Holiday'' | Commodore 30008 |- | 1958 (released 1986) | ''At Monterey'' | Blackhawk 50701 |- | 1959 | ''Seven Ages of Jazz'' | Metrojazz 1009 |- | 1959 | ''Billie Holiday'' | MGM 3764 |}
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||||
| ! style="width:40px;" | ! style="width:40px;" | |||||
| 1934 | 6 | |||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 18 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 17 | ||||||
| 9 | ||||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 9 | ||||||
| 18 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 20 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 13 | ||||||
| 8 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 11 | ||||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 15 | ||||||
| 16 | ||||||
| 11 | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
| 18 | ||||||
| 14 | ||||||
| 12 | ||||||
| 20 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1939 | 16 | |||||
| 1941 | 25 | |||||
| 1942 | 23 | 1 | ||||
| 1945 | 16 | 5 | ||||
Compositions
Never Recorded:
Awards and honors
Grammy Hall of Fame
Billie Holiday was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."{| class=wikitable |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"| Billie Holiday: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Year Inducted ! Notes |- align=center | 1949 | "Crazy He Calls Me" | Jazz (single) | Decca | 2010 | |- align=center | 1944 | "Embraceable You" | Jazz (single) | Commodore | 2005 | |- align=center | 1958 | ''Lady in Satin'' | Jazz (album) | Columbia | 2000 | |- align=center | 1945 | "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" | Jazz (single) | Decca | 1989 | |- align=center | 1939 | "Strange Fruit" | Jazz (single) | Commodore | 1978 | Listed also in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2002 |- align=center | 1941 | "God Bless the Child" | Jazz (single) | Okeh | 1976 | |}
Grammy Best Historical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979.{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Label ! Result |- align=center | 2002 | ''Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday'' | Columbia 1933–1944 | Winner |- align=center | 1994 | ''The Complete Billie Holiday'' | Verve 1945–1959 | Winner |- align=center | 1992 | ''Billie Holiday — The Complete Decca Recordings'' | Verve 1944–1950 | Winner |- align=center | 1980 | ''Billie Holiday — Giants of Jazz'' | Time-Life | Winner |}
Other honors
{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Award ! Honors ! Notes |- align=center | 2004 | Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York |- align=center | 2000 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Inducted | Category: "Early Influence" |- align=center | 1997 | ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame |Inducted | |- align=center | 1947 | Esquire Magazine Gold Award | Best Leading Female Vocalist | Jazz award |- align=center | 1946 | Esquire Magazine Silver Award | Best Leading Female Vocalist | Jazz award |- align=center | 1945 | Esquire Magazine Silver Award | Best Leading Female Vocalist | Jazz award |- align=center | 1944 | Esquire Magazine Gold Award | Best Leading Female Vocalist | Jazz award |}
Tributes
Honors
Over the years, there have been many tributes to Billie Holiday, including "The Day Lady Died," a 1959 poem by Frank O'Hara.
Filmography
Television appearances
{|class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Program ! Host ! Songs |- |(1) = Available on Audio (2) = Available on DVD
Notes
References
External links
Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1915 births Category:1959 deaths Category:African American female singers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:Alcohol-related deaths in New York Category:American buskers Category:American jazz singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Classic female blues singers Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Deaths from cirrhosis Category:Decca Records artists Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Musicians from Baltimore, Maryland Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Swing singers Category:Torch singers Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vocalion Records artists Category:Women in jazz
ar:بيلي هوليدي an:Billie Holiday bs:Billie Holiday bg:Били Холидей ca:Billie Holiday cs:Billie Holiday da:Billie Holiday de:Billie Holiday et:Billie Holiday el:Μπίλι Χόλιντεϊ es:Billie Holiday eo:Billie Holiday fa:بیلی هالیدی fr:Billie Holiday fy:Billie Holiday gl:Billie Holiday ko:빌리 홀리데이 hr:Billie Holiday io:Billie Holiday id:Billie Holiday it:Billie Holiday he:בילי הולידיי ka:ბილი ჰოლიდეი sw:Billie Holiday la:Gulielma Holiday lt:Billie Holiday hu:Billie Holiday nl:Billie Holiday ja:ビリー・ホリデイ no:Billie Holiday oc:Billie Holiday nds:Billie Holiday pl:Billie Holiday pt:Billie Holiday ro:Billie Holiday ru:Билли Холидей sc:Billie Holiday scn:Billie Holiday simple:Billie Holiday sr:Били Холидеј fi:Billie Holiday sv:Billie Holiday tl:Billie Holiday th:บิลลี ฮอลิเดย์ tr:Billie Holiday uk:Біллі Холідей yo:Billie Holiday zh-yue:Billie Holiday zh:比莉·霍利戴This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°37′40″N |
|---|---|
| name | Teddy Wilson |
| background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| birth name | Theodore Shaw Wilson |
| born | November 24, 1912 Austin, Texas |
| died | July 31, 1986 Hillsdale, New Jersey |
| instrument | Piano |
| genre | Jazz |
| occupation | Pianist |
| associated acts | Louis ArmstrongEarl HinesBillie HolidayLester YoungLena HorneBenny Goodman |
| notable instruments | }} |
Biography
Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in 1912. He studied piano and violin at Tuskegee Institute. After working in the Lawrence "Speed" Webb band, with Louis Armstrong and also "understudying" Earl Hines in Hines's Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra, Wilson joined Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies in 1933. In 1935 he joined the Benny Goodman Trio (which consisted of Goodman, Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa, later expanded to the Benny Goodman Quartet with the addition of Lionel Hampton). The trio performed during the big band's intermissions. By joining the trio, Wilson became the first black musician to perform in public with a previously all-white jazz group.Noted jazz producer and writer John Hammond was instrumental in getting Wilson a contract with Brunswick, starting in 1935, to record hot swing arrangements of the popular songs of the day, with the growing jukebox trade in mind. He recorded fifty hit records with various singers such as Lena Horne and Helen Ward, including many of Billie Holiday's greatest successes. During these years he also took part in many highly regarded sessions with a wide range of important swing musicians, such as Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, Red Norvo, Buck Clayton and Ben Webster.
Wilson formed his own short-lived big band in 1939, then led a sextet at Café Society from 1940 to 1944. He was dubbed the "Marxist Mozart" by Howard "Stretch" Johnson due to his support for left-wing causes (he performed in benefit concerts for The New Masses journal and for Russian War Relief, and chaired the Artists' Committee to elect Benjamin J. Davis). In the 1950s he taught at the Juilliard School. Wilson can be seen appearing as himself in the motion picture ''The Benny Goodman Story'' (1955).
Wilson lived quietly in suburban Hillsdale, New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s. He performed as a soloist and with pick-up groups until the final years of his life. Teddy Wilson died on July 31, 1986.
He was interred at Fairview Cemetery in New Britain, CT
Discography
As sideman:
References
External links
[ Allmusic]Category:1912 births Category:1986 deaths Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Hillsdale, New Jersey Category:Swing pianists Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:African American musicians Category:American jazz pianists Category:Tuskegee University alumni Category:Juilliard School faculty Category:Verve Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists
de:Teddy Wilson es:Teddy Wilson eo:Teddy Wilson fr:Teddy Wilson id:Teddy Wilson it:Teddy Wilson nl:Teddy Wilson ja:テディ・ウィルソン no:Teddy Wilson nn:Teddy Wilson pl:Teddy Wilson sv:Teddy Wilson zh:泰迪·威爾森This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°37′40″N |
|---|---|
| name | Oscar Peterson |
| landscape | yes |
| background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| birth name | Oscar Emmanuel Peterson |
| birth date | August 15, 1925 |
| origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| died | December 23, 2007Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| instrument | Piano |
| genre | Jazz |
| occupation | Pianist, composer |
| years active | 1945–2007 |
| label | Mercury, MPS, Pablo, Telarc, Verve |
| website | www.oscarpeterson.com }} |
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, having played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.
Biography
Peterson was born to immigrants from the West Indies; his father worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway. Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal, Quebec. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, a bout of tuberculosis at age seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, and so he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught young Oscar classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practising scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity.As a child, Peterson also studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of Istvan Thomán who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano. Meanwhile he was captivated by traditional jazz and learned several ragtime pieces and especially the boogie-woogie. At that time Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie."
At age nine Peterson played piano with control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of practice daily. Only in his later years did he decrease his daily practice to just one or two hours. In 1940, at age fourteen, Peterson won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of school and became a professional pianist working for a weekly radio show, and playing at hotels and music halls.
Peterson resided in a two-storey house on Hammond Road in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, until his death in 2007 of kidney failure.
Influences
Some of the artists who influenced Peterson's musicianship during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Peterson in later years. One of his first exposures to Tatum's musical talents came early in his teen years when his father played Art Tatum's Tiger Rag for him, and Peterson was so intimidated by what he heard that he became disillusioned about his own playing, to the extent of refusing to play the piano at all for several weeks. In his own words, "Tatum scared me to death" and Peterson was "never cocky again" about his mastery at the piano. Tatum was a model for Peterson's musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson eventually became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared with Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.Peterson has also credited his sister Daisy Sweeney — a noted piano teacher in Montreal who also taught several other noted Canadian jazz musicians — with being an important teacher and influence on his career. Under his sister's tutelage, Peterson expanded into classical piano training and broadened his range while mastering the core classical pianism from scales to preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Building on Art Tatum's pianism and aesthetics, Peterson also absorbed Tatum's musical influences, notably from piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff's harmonizations, as well as direct quotations from his 2nd Piano Concerto, are thrown in here and there in many recordings by Peterson, including his work with the most familiar formulation of the Oscar Peterson Trio, with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis. During the 1960s and 1970s Peterson made numerous trio recordings highlighting his piano performances that reveal more of his eclectic style that absorbed influences from various genres of jazz, popular and classical music.
Norman Granz
An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve) and Granz's "Jazz at the Philharmonic" project. Granz discovered Peterson in a peculiar manner. As the impresario was being taken to the Montreal airport by cab, the radio was playing a live broadcast of Peterson at a local night club. Granz was so smitten by what he heard that he ordered the driver to take him to the club so that he could meet the pianist. In 1949, Granz introduced Peterson at a Carnegie Hall ''Jazz at the Philharmonic'' show in New York.So was born a lasting relationship and Granz remained Peterson's manager for most of his career. One poignant illustration: in the last two years of his life, Peterson doted on a boxer dog that he named "Smedley," Peterson's nickname for Granz. On the day of Peterson's death, Smedley lay on the bed with him and would not leave.
This was more than a managerial relationship; Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him and other black jazz musicians in the segregationist south of the 1950s and 1960s. For example, in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's two-part documentary video ''Music in the Key of Oscar'', Peterson tells how Granz stood up to a gun-toting southern policeman who wanted to stop the trio from using "white-only" taxis. The entire documentary is a fascinating account of Peterson's life from his Montreal childhood, to his career, to his family relations and includes interviews with Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Ella Fitzgerald. Its narrative ends in 1993, just before Peterson's debilitating stroke.
In the course of his career, Peterson developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist and became a regular on Canadian radio from the 1940s. His name was already recognized in the United States. However, his 1949 debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City, arranged by Norman Granz, was uncredited; owing to union restrictions, his appearance could not be billed.
Through Granz's ''Jazz at the Philharmonic'' he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time. Some of his musical associates included Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Anita O'Day, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz.
Duets
Peterson made numerous duo performances and recordings with bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, guitarists Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Herb Ellis, and Barney Kessel, pianists Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Benny Green, and Keith Emerson, trumpeters Clark Terry and Louis Armstrong, and many other important jazz players. His 1950s duo recordings with bassist Ray Brown mark the formation of one of the longest lasting partnerships in the history of jazz. Peterson's 1970's duo with guitarist Joe Pass has been considered one of the highest standards in the genre.According to pianist/educator Mark Eisenman, some of Peterson's best playing was as an understated accompanist to singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.
Trio
Peterson redefined the jazz trio by bringing musicianship of all three members to the highest level. The definitive trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis was, in his own words "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances as well as in studio recordings. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel. Kessel tired of touring after a year, and was succeeded by Herb Ellis. As Ellis was white, Peterson's trios were racially integrated, a controversial move at the time that was fraught with difficulties with segregationist whites and blacks.''Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival'' is widely regarded as the landmark album in Peterson's career, and one of the most influential trios in jazz. Their last recording, ''On the Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio'', recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding between three players. All three musicians were equal contributors involved in a highly sophisticated improvisational interplay. When Herb Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis. Ellis was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen in 1959. Brown and Thigpen worked with Peterson on his famous albums ''Night Train'' and the successful ''Canadiana Suite''. Brown and Thigpen left in 1965 and were replaced by bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes (and later, drummer Bobby Durham). The trio performed together until 1970. Their albums included pop songs such as The Beatles' Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby. In the fall of 1970, Peterson's trio were successful in their album ''Tristeza on Piano'' which was a eulogy of the recently deceased Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the Monterey Pop Festival stars. This record was released on CD in 1985, went out of print, and then came back remastered in 2005 as an anniversary edition. Selections from this trio's work have been incidentally used for Japanese anime and other live action films. Jones and Durham left in 1970.
In the 1970s Peterson formed another landmark trio with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This trio emulated the success of the 1950s trio with Brown and Ellis, gave acclaimed performances at numerous festivals, and made best-selling recordings, most notably the 1978 double album recorded live in Paris. In 1974 Oscar added British drummer, Martin Drew, and this quartet toured and recorded extensively worldwide.
Quartet
A quartet was a less permanent setting for Peterson, after the trio or duo, as it was hard to find equally powerful musicians available for a tightly knit arrangement with him. After the loss of Ellis his next trio eventually turned into a quartet after he added a drummer — first Gene Gammage for a brief time, then Ed Thigpen. In this group Peterson became the dominant soloist. Later members of the group were Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, Ray Price, Sam Jones, George Mraz, Martin Drew and Lorne Lofsky.Peterson often formed a quartet by adding a fourth player to his existing trios. He was open to experimental collaborations with jazz stars, such as saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson among others. In 1961, the Peterson trio with Jackson recorded a highly praised album, ''Very Tall''.
Further career
From the late 1950s, when Peterson gained worldwide recognition as one of the leading pianists in jazz, he played in a variety of settings: solo, duo, trio, quartet, small bands, and big bands. However, his solo piano recitals, as well as his solo piano recordings were rare, until he chose to make a series of solo albums titled "Exclusively for my friends." These solo piano sessions, made for the Musik Produktion Schwarzwald (MPS) label, were Peterson's response to the emergence of such stars as Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.Some cognoscenti assert that Peterson's best recordings were made for MPS in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For some years subsequently he recorded for Granz's Pablo Records after the label was founded in 1973. In the 1990s and 2000s he recorded several albums accompanied by a combo for Telarc.
In the 1980s he played successfully in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after the stroke, Peterson made performances and recordings with his protégé Benny Green.
Composer and teacher
Peterson wrote pieces for piano, for trio, for quartet and for big band. He also wrote several songs, and made recordings as a singer. Probably his best-known compositions are "Canadiana Suite" and "Hymn to Freedom," the latter composed in the 1960s and inspired by the U.S. civil rights movement.Peterson taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto. With associates, he started and headed the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto for five years during the 1960s, but it closed because concert touring called him and his associates away, and it did not have government funding. Later, he mentored the York University jazz program and was the Chancellor of the entire university for several years in the early 1990s. He also published his original jazz piano etudes for practice. However, he asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Well Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and The Art of Fugue, considering these piano pieces essential for every serious pianist. Pianists Benny Green and Oliver Jones were among his students.
Stroke, later years and death
Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. Never slender, his weight increased to , hindering his mobility. He had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility was still inhibited. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chrétien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chrétien he declined, citing the health problems from his recent stroke.After the stroke, Peterson recuperated for about two years. He gradually regained mobility and some control of his left hand. However, his virtuosity was never restored to the original level, and his playing after his stroke relied principally on his right hand. In 1995 he returned to public performances on a limited basis, and also made several live and studio recordings for Telarc. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play. Canadian politician, friend, and amateur pianist Bob Rae contends that "a one-handed Oscar was better than just about anyone with two hands".
In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD ''A Night in Vienna'' for Verve, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP), Ulf Wakenius and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days' rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), NHØP or David Young (bass), and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups.
Peterson's health declined rapidly in 2007. He had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, owing to illness. On December 23, 2007, Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. He left seven children, his fourth wife Kelly, and their daughter, Celine (born 1991).
Awards and recognition
Musical awards and recognition
''Begone Dull Care'' is an abstract film presentation of Oscar's music, released in 1949.His work earned him eight Grammy awards over the years and he was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1978. He also belongs to the Juno Awards Hall of Fame and the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame.
Peterson received the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award from Black Theatre Workshop (1986), Roy Thomson Award (1987), a Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement (1991), the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1992), the Glenn Gould Prize (1993), the award of the International Society for Performing Artists (1995), the Loyola Medal of Concordia University (1997), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), the Praemium Imperiale World Art Award (1999), the UNESCO Music Prize (2000), the Toronto Musicians' Association Musician of the Year award (2001), and an honorary LLD from the University of the West Indies (2006).
In 1999, Concordia University in Montreal renamed their Loyola-campus concert hall Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in his honour.
In 2005, Peterson celebrated his 80th birthday at the HMV flagship store in Toronto, where a crowd of about 200 gathered to celebrate with him. Long time admirer, and fellow Canadian Diana Krall, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and also performed a vocal version of one of Peterson's songs "When Summer Comes". The lyrics for this version were written by Elvis Costello, Krall's husband. Canada Post unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. The event was covered by a live radio broadcast by Toronto jazz station, JAZZ.FM.
Peterson received the BBC-Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, London, England.
"Technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable," he once told jazz writer Len Lyons. "You learn to play the instrument so you have a musical vocabulary, and you practice to get your technique to the point you need to express yourself, depending on how heavy your ideas are."
"Some may criticize Peterson for not advancing, for finding his niche and staying with it for an entire career, but while he may not be the most revolutionary artist in jazz, the documentary ''Music in the Key of Oscar'' demonstrates that breaking down barriers can be accomplished in more ways than one." "He was a crystallizer, rather than an innovator."
""His hands could do things few piano players can do," said pianist Bill King who studied with Peterson at his music school. Because Peterson was a big man — six feet three inches — he could stretch his hands over a keyboard in a way few musicians can match.
Ray Charles, in ''Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Piano Blues'' (2003), said "Oscar Peterson is a mother fucking piano player!"
Recognition in Canada
While Peterson was recognized as a great jazz pianist both at home in Canada and internationally, he was also regarded in Canada as a distinguished public figure. His notable personage is evident in the acclaim and awards he received, particularly in the latter two decades of his life.He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (the country's highest civilian state order for talent and service) in 1972, and promoted to Companion of the order (the highest degree of merit and humanity), in 1984. He was also a member of the Order of Ontario, a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, and an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.
From 1991 to 1994, Peterson was chancellor of York University in Toronto. The chancellor is the titular head of the university. Weeks after his death, the Province of Ontario announced a C$4 million scholarship for the "Oscar Peterson Chair" for Jazz Performance at York University with an additional C$1 million to be awarded annually in music scholarships to underprivileged York students in tribute to Peterson.
Peterson's niece, television journalist Sylvia Sweeney, produced an award-winning documentary film, ''In the Key of Oscar'', about Peterson in 1992.
Unlike most other jazz musicians, Oscar Peterson was networked with Canadian elites in the later years of his life. For example, former Ontario premier Bob Rae recalled that in 2007, himself, Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, and former Ontario premier Bill Davis celebrated McMurtry's retirement with Peterson, his wife, and their wives.
Peterson received honorary doctorates from many Canadian universities: Carleton University, Queen's University, Concordia University, McMaster University, Mount Allison University, the University of Victoria, the University of Western Ontario, York University, the University of Toronto, and the Université Laval, as well as from Northwestern University and Niagara University in the United States.
In 2004, the City of Toronto named the courtyard of the Toronto-Dominion Centre ''Oscar Peterson Square''.
In 2005, the Peel District School Board in suburban Toronto opened the Oscar Peterson school in Mississauga, Ontario, two miles from his home. Peterson said, "This is a most unexpected and moving tribute." He visited the school several times and donated electronic musical equipment to it. Soon after Peterson's death, the University of Toronto Mississauga opened a major student residence in March 2008 as "Oscar Peterson Hall".
Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien wanted in 1993 to put Peterson forward to the Governor General of Canada for appointment to the post of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, but Peterson felt that his health could not stand up to the many ceremonial duties that this position would require. "He was the most famous Canadian in the world," said Chrétien. Chrétien also said that Nelson Mandela glowed when meeting Peterson. "It was very emotional. They were both moved to meet each other. These were two men with humble beginnings who rose to very illustrious levels."
A major memorial concert, held on January 12, 2008, filled the 2500-seat Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. People had queued for more than three hours to get in. Governor General Michaëlle Jean reported at the concert that "thousands" more could not get in. Among the performers were Grégory Charles, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Phil Nimmons and singers Audrey Morris and Nancy Wilson. The "Oscar Peterson" quartet played key pieces; they are Monty Alexander, Jeff Hamilton, Ulf Wakenius and Dave Young. All toured with Peterson during his late "one-handed" period" except Alexander. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, University of Toronto Gospel Choir and Sharon Riley & the Faith Chorale, under the direction of Andrew Craid along with opera soprano Measha Brueggergosman closed the show, singing an excerpt from Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom". The show was made available for download.
In 2009, a young pianist named Connor Derraugh in Winnipeg, Manitoba wrote a tribute song to Oscar Peterson. He would later play it at an Oscar Peterson tribute concert at a local church and receive a standing ovation. The event was broadcasted on CBC Radio.
A movement was begun on Facebook to rename the Lionel-Groulx Metro station, a transfer station between Montreal's Green Line and Orange Line, in honour of Oscar Peterson. The Montreal Transit Corporation, however, has refused to end its moratorium on renaming Metro stations. The city's policy on landmark tributes is to wait at least a year after a public figure's death.
An Ontario school named Oscar Peterson Public School was opened in Stouffville in the Regional Municipality of York on 30 April 2009, and commenced operation in the 2009-2010 school year.
Grammy Awards
Honorary Degrees Conferred
Instruments
Discography
See also
References
External links
Category:1925 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Bebop pianists Category:Black Canadian musicians Category:Canadian jazz composers Category:Canadian jazz pianists Category:Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian people of Caribbean descent Category:Chancellors of York University Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:Deaths from renal failure Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Knights of the National Order of Quebec Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:Members of the Order of Ontario Category:Mercury Records artists Category:The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Category:Verve Records artists Category:Telarc Records artists Category:MPS Records artists Category:Pablo Records artists Category:York University Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Musicians from Montreal Category:Juno Award winners
ast:Oscar Peterson bg:Оскар Питърсън cs:Oscar Peterson cy:Oscar Peterson da:Oscar Peterson de:Oscar Peterson et:Oscar Peterson es:Oscar Peterson eo:Oscar Peterson fa:اسکار پترسون fr:Oscar Peterson id:Oscar Peterson it:Oscar Peterson he:אוסקר פיטרסון ka:ოსკარ პიტერსონი sw:Oscar Peterson lb:Oscar Peterson hu:Oscar Peterson nl:Oscar Peterson ja:オスカー・ピーターソン no:Oscar Peterson nds:Oscar Peterson pl:Oscar Peterson pt:Oscar Peterson ro:Oscar Peterson ru:Питерсон, Оскар simple:Oscar Peterson sk:Oscar Peterson fi:Oscar Peterson sv:Oscar Peterson tr:Oscar Peterson uk:Оскар ПітерсонThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°37′40″N |
|---|---|
| name | Charlie Christian |
| background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| birth name | Charles Henry Christian |
| birth date | July 29, 1916 |
| death date | March 02, 1942 |
| instrument | Guitar |
| notable instruments | Gibson ES-150 |
| genre | Swing, bebop, jazz, Big band music |
| occupation | Musician}} |
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist.
Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra from August 1939 to June 1941. His single-string technique combined with amplification helped bring the guitar out of the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instrument. John Hammond and George T. Simon called Christian the best improvisational talent of the swing era. In the liner notes to the 1972 Columbia album ''Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian'', Gene Lees writes that ''"many critics and musicians consider that Christian was one of the founding fathers of bebop, or if not that, at least a precursor to it"''.
Christian's influence reached beyond jazz and swing — in 1990 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Christian was raised in Oklahoma City and was one of many musicians who jammed along the city's "Deep Deuce" section on N.E. Second Street. In 2006 Oklahoma City renamed a street in its Bricktown entertainment district Charlie Christian Avenue.
Early life
Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, but his family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he was a small child. His parents were musicians and he had two brothers, Edward, born in 1906, and Clarence, born in 1911. All three sons were taught music by their father, Clarence Henry Christian. Clarence Henry was struck blind by fever, and in order to support the family he and the boys would work as buskers, on what the Christians called "busts." He would have them lead him into the better neighborhoods where they would perform for cash or goods. When Charles was old enough to go along, he first entertained by dancing. Later he learned guitar, inheriting his father's instruments upon his death when Charles was 12.
He attended Douglass School in Oklahoma City, and was further encouraged in music by instructor Zelia Breaux. Charles wanted to play tenor saxophone in the school band, but she insisted he try trumpet instead. Because he believed playing the trumpet would disfigure his lip, he quit to pursue his interest in baseball, at which he excelled.
In a 1978 interview with Charlie Christian biographer Craig McKinney, Clarence Christian said that in the 1920s and '30s Edward Christian led a band in Oklahoma City as a pianist and had a shaky relationship with trumpeter James Simpson. Around 1931, he took guitarist "Bigfoot" Ralph Hamilton and began secretly schooling the younger Charles on jazz. They taught him to solo on three songs, "Rose Room", "Tea for Two", and "Sweet Georgia Brown". When the time was right they took him out to one of the many after-hours jam sessions along "Deep Deuce", Northeast Second Street in Oklahoma City.
"Let Charles play one," they told Edward. "Ah, nobody wants to hear them old blues," Edward replied. After some encouragement, he allowed Charles to play. "What do you want to play?" he asked. All three songs were big in the early 1930s and Edward was surprised that Charles knew them. After two encores, Charles had played all three and "Deep Deuce" was in an uproar. He coolly dismissed himself from the jam session, and his mother had heard about it before he got home.
Charles fathered a daughter, Billie Jean Christian, born December 23, 1932, with Margretta Lorraine Downey of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They never married. Billie Jean (Christian) Johnson died 19 July 2004.
Charles soon was performing locally and on the road throughout the Midwest, as far away as North Dakota and Minnesota. By 1936 he was playing electric guitar and had become a regional attraction. He jammed with many of the big name performers traveling through Oklahoma City including Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. It was Mary Lou Williams, pianist for "Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy", who told record producer John Hammond about Charlie Christian.
National fame
In 1939 Christian auditioned for John Hammond, who recommended him to bandleader Benny Goodman. Goodman was the fourth white bandleader to feature black musicians in his live band: the first was Jimmy Durante, for whom Achille Baquet, a light-skinned black clarinetist who could pass as white, played and recorded in Durante's Original New Orleans Jazz Band (1918–1920); the second was violinist Arthur Hand, who led the California Ramblers, which from 1922-1925 included light-skinned black trumpeter Bill Moore, who was billed as The Hot Hawaiian. The third was Ben Bernie, whose band from 1925-1928 also featured Bill Moore. Goodman became the fourth by bringing Teddy Wilson in on piano in 1935, and Lionel Hampton on vibraphone in 1936. Goodman hired Christian to play with the newly formed Goodman Sextet in 1939. It has been often stated that Goodman was initially uninterested in hiring Christian because the electric guitar was a relatively new instrument. Goodman had been exposed to the instrument with Floyd Smith and Leonard Ware among others, none of whom had the ability of Charlie Christian. There is a report of Goodman unsuccessfully trying to buy out Floyd Smith's contract from Andy Kirk. However, Goodman was so impressed by Christian's playing that he hired him instead.
There are several versions of the first meeting of Christian and Goodman on August 16, 1939. The encounter that afternoon at the recording studio had not gone well. Charles recalled in a 1940 ''Metronome'' magazine article, "I guess neither one of us liked what I played", but Hammond decided to try again — without consulting Goodman (Christian says Goodman invited him to the show that evening); he installed Christian on the bandstand for that night's set at the Victor Hugo restaurant in Los Angeles. Displeased at the surprise, Goodman called "Rose Room", a tune he assumed that Christian would be unfamiliar with. Unknown to Goodman, Charles had been reared on the tune, and he came in with his solo — which was to be the first of about twenty, all of them different, all unlike anything Goodman had heard before. That version of "Rose Room" lasted forty minutes; by its end, Christian was in the band. In the course of a few days, Christian went from making $2.50 a night to making $150 a week.
Christian was placed in Goodman's new sextet, which included Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Bernstein and Nick Fatool. By February 1940 Christian dominated the jazz and swing guitar polls and was elected to the Metronome All Stars. In the spring of 1940 Goodman let most of his entourage go in a reorganization move. He retained Charlie Christian, and in the fall of that year Goodman led a sextet with Charlie Christian, Count Basie, longtime Duke Ellington trumpeter Cootie Williams, former Artie Shaw tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld and later drummer Dave Tough. This all-star band dominated the jazz polls in 1941, including another election to the Metronome All Stars for Christian. Johnny Guarnieri, who replaced Fletcher Henderson in the first sextet, filled the piano chair in Basie's absence.
In 1966, 24 years after his death, Christian was inducted into the ''Down Beat'' Jazz Hall of Fame.
Style and influences
Christian's solos are frequently referred to as "horn-like", and in that sense he was more influenced by horn players such as Lester Young and Herschel Evans than by early acoustic guitarists like Eddie Lang and jazz/bluesman Lonnie Johnson, although they both had contributed to the expansion of the guitar's role from "rhythm section" instrument to a solo instrument. Christian admitted he wanted his guitar to sound like a tenor saxophone. Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt had little influence on Christian, but he was obviously familiar with some of his recordings. Guitarist Mary Osborne recalled hearing him play Django's solo on "St. Louis Blues" note for note, but then following it with his own ideas. By 1939 there had already been electric guitar soloists—Leonard Ware, George Barnes, trombonist/composer ("Topsy") Eddie Durham had recorded with Count Basie's Kansas City Six, Floyd Smith recorded "Floyd's Guitar Blues" with Andy Kirk in March 1939, using an amplified lap steel guitar, and Texas Swing pioneer Eldon Shamblin was using amplified electric guitar with Bob Wills. However, Charles Christian was the first great soloist on the amplified guitar.
Guitarists who followed Christian and who were influenced by him include Oscar Moore (Nat King Cole trio), Les Paul, Tiny Grimes, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Raney, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, and Jim Hall. Tiny Grimes, who made several records with Art Tatum, can often be heard quoting Christian note-for-note.
Christian paved the way for the modern electric guitar sound that was followed by other pioneers, including T-Bone Walker, Eddie Cochran, Cliff Gallup, Scotty Moore, Franny Beecher, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix. For this reason Christian was inducted in 1990 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "Early Influence".
Christian's exposure was so great in the brief period he played with Goodman that he influenced not only guitarists, but other musicians as well. The influence he had on "Dizzy" Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Don Byas can be heard on their early "bop" recordings "Blue'n Boogie" and "Salt Peanuts". Other musicians, such as trumpeter Miles Davis, cite Christian as an early influence. Indeed, Christian's "new" sound influenced jazz as a whole. He reigned supreme in the jazz guitar polls up to two years after his death.
Bebop and Minton's Playhouse
Charlie Christian was an important contributor to the music that became known as "bop" or "Bebop". Private recordings made in September 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Goodman aficionado Jerry Newhouse capture the newly hired Christian while on the road with Goodman and feature Goodman tenor sax man Jerry Jerome and then local bass man Oscar Pettiford. Taking multiple solos, Christian shows much the same improvisational skills later captured on the Minton's and Monroe's recordings in 1941, suggesting that he had already matured as a musician. The Minneapolis recordings include "Stardust", "Tea for Two" and "I've Got Rhythm", the latter a favorite piece of bop composers and jammers.More of the unrestrained Christian is apparent in recordings of the partial Goodman Sextet made in March 1941. With Goodman and bassist Artie Bernstein absent, Christian and the rest of the Sextet recorded for nearly 20 minutes as the engineers tested equipment. Two recordings were released from that session years later: "Blues in B" and "Waiting for Benny", which showed hints of bop jam sessions. The free flow of these sessions contrasts with the more formal swing music recorded after Goodman had arrived at the studio. Other Goodman Sextet records that foretell bop are "Seven Come Eleven" (1939) and "Air Mail Special" (1940 and 1941).
An even more striking example is a series of recordings made at Minton's Playhouse, an after-hours club located in the Hotel Cecil at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem by Columbia student Jerry Newman on a portable disk recorder in 1941. Newman captured Christian, accompanied by Joe Guy on trumpet, Kenny Kersey on piano and Kenny Clarke on drums, stretching out far beyond what the confines of the 78 RPM record would allow. His work on "Swing to Bop", a later Esoteric Records company re-title of Eddie Durham's "Topsy," is an example of what Christian was capable of creating "off the cuff."
His use of tension and release, a technique employed by Lester Young, Count Basie and later bop musicians, is also present on "Stompin' at the Savoy", included among the Newman recordings. The collection also includes recordings made at Clark Monroe's Uptown House, another late-night jazz haunt in the Harlem of 1941 that include Oran "Hot Lips" Page. Other recordings include tenor sax man Don Byas. The Minton's recordings were long rumored to feature "Dizzy" Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, but that has since been proven untrue, although both were regulars at the jam sessions, with Monk a regular in the Minton's house band.
Kenny Clarke claimed that "Epistrophy" and "Rhythm-a-ning" were Charlie Christian compositions that Christian played with Clarke and Thelonious Monk at Minton's jam sessions. The "Rhythm-a-ning" line can be heard on "Down on Teddy's Hill" and behind the introduction on "Guy's Got To Go" from the Newman recordings, but it is also a line from Mary Lou Williams' "Walkin' and Swingin'".
Clarke said Christian first showed him the chords to "Epistrophy" on a ukulele. These recordings have been packaged under a number of different titles, including "After Hours" and "The Immortal Charlie Christian." While the recording quality of many of these sessions is poor, they show Christian stretching out much longer than he could on the Benny Goodman sides. On the Minton's and Monroe's recordings, Christian can be heard taking multiple choruses on a single tune, playing long stretches of melodic ideas with ease.
Christian was just as adept with understatement as well. His work on the Goodman sextet sides "Soft Winds", "Till Tom Special", and "A Smo-o-o-oth One", show his use of very few, well placed melodic notes. His work on the Sextet's recordings of ballads "Stardust", "Memories of You", "Poor Butterfly", "I Surrender Dear" and "On the Alamo" as well as his work on "Profoundly Blue" with the Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet (1941) show hints of what was later to be called "cool jazz". Although credited for very few, Christian composed many of the original tunes recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet.
Health
In the late 1930s Christian had contracted tuberculosis and in early 1940 was hospitalized for a short period in which the Goodman group was on hiatus due to Benny's back trouble. Goodman was hospitalized in the summer of 1940 after the band's brief stay at Santa Catalina Island, California, where the group stayed when on the west coast. Christian returned home to Oklahoma City, in late July 1940 before returning to New York City in September 1940. In early 1941, Christian resumed his hectic lifestyle, heading to Harlem for late-night jam sessions after finishing gigs with the Goodman Sextet and Orchestra in New York City. In June 1941 he was admitted to Seaview, a sanitarium on Staten Island in New York City. He was reported to be making progress, and Down Beat magazine reported in February 1942 that he and Cootie Williams were starting a band.After a visit that same month to the hospital by tap dancer and drummer Marion Joseph "Taps" Miller, Christian declined in health and died March 2, 1942. He was 25 years old. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Bonham, Texas, and a Texas State Historical Commission Marker and headstone were placed in Gates Hill Cemetery in 1994. The location of the historical marker and headstone has been disputed.
Discography
As leader
Although Christian never recorded professionally as a leader, compilations have been released of his sessions as a sideman where he is a featured soloist, of practice and warm-up recordings for these sessions, and some lower-quality recordings of Christian's own groups performing in nightclubs, by amateur technicians.
As sideman
Appearances on recordings by Ida Cox, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Fred Astaire, Eddy Howard, Edmond Hall, Metronome All Stars 1940-1941, Kansas City Six with Buck Clayton and Lester Young, Helen Forrest.
Filmography
See also
Notes
References
External links
Category:Swing guitarists Category:American jazz guitarists Category:African American guitarists Category:Bebop guitarists Category:Deaths from tuberculosis Category:1916 births Category:1942 deaths Category:People from Fannin County, Texas Category:People from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Blue Note Records artists
da:Charlie Christian de:Charlie Christian eo:Charlie Christian fr:Charlie Christian it:Charlie Christian he:צ'ארלי כריסטיאן nl:Charlie Christian ja:チャーリー・クリスチャン no:Charlie Christian pl:Charlie Christian pt:Charlie Christian ru:Крисчен, Чарльз Генри simple:Charlie Christian fi:Charlie Christian sv:Charlie ChristianThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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