Pres and Teddy

Artist: Lester Young - Teddy Wilson Quartet
Label: Polygram Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 042283127029
EAN: 0042283127029
ASIN: B00000472M

Release Date: 1990-10-25

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Listmania:

A Great Jazz List
PRES GETS IT: A LESTER YOUNG COMPENDIUM.
JAZZ 101: THE SHORT COURSE.
Swing-Jazz Gems read my reviews on the page for each item
This is Jazz
Great Jazz ( that you havent heard)
" After Midnight - Mainstream Jazz"
Nice Jazz From 1956
Desert Island Discs, Part 1-Jazz
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Tracks:

All Of Me
Prisoner Of Love
Louise
Love Me Or Leave Me
Taking A Chance On Love
Our Love Is Here To Stay
Pres Returns

Similar Items:

With the Oscar Peterson Trio
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (20-Bit Master)
The Jazz Giants '56
Body & Soul
Lester Young Trio

Customer Reviews:

Simply the Best.......2006-09-17

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

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

Proving Once Again Pres Was Still On Top.......2006-07-11

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

Young got top billing but check out Teddy Wilson's playing.......2006-03-10

Lester Young was a figure of legend for me, but not a breathing presence in any of the music I spend time with now. His work with Billie Holiday was familiar, but though her voice may be timeless, the orchestrations are very much of that time.

I bought this on the recommendation of another Amazon reviewer who thought Young was in top form and felt this CD was essential. He was wrong about Young but right about the CD, and at $5.99 you should buy it, for this quartet is a beautiful thing when they click.

As for Young, he's amazing about half the time. Teddy Wilson is amazing ALL THE TIME and his trio, including Gene Ramey and Jo Jones, had a good thing going. Wilson swings and inspires Young to his best work since 1952, and probably his last really meaningful recording.

As a historical note; Young had been hospitalized to clean up from drugs and alcohol in 1956 and he had a small resurgence in his playing in the aftermath of his hospital stay. That's wonderfully evident in 4 of these 7 tracks. On them you can hear the sound that influenced so many tenor players and easily holds up with the best of what you'd hear now. Really.

Unfortunately, Young's renaissance was short lived and that's also evident on two or three tracks where Young slides into the notes and slurs them, is sluggish in his timing and his playing sounds more drunk than high. Wilson and company are such pros that even Young's wayward solos don't slow them down or dampen their apparent enthusiasm.

This isn't just another "historic" recording for the serious jazz historian/collector. This are high-spirited and often thrilling recordings, notably on All of Me and Louise.

TOP OF HIS GAME.......2005-07-27

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

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

One of The Best Jazz Albums Out There.......2005-06-20

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

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