Lester Young Jazz Giants

AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD second release from Lester Young. This time we have included not only a couple of classic Count Basie titles which heavily feature “Pres” at his absolute prime, but also the formidable classic “The Jazz Giants”.

Even critics who feel (against the recorded evidence to the contrary) that little of tenor saxophonist Lester Young's postwar playing is at the level of his earlier performances make an exception for this session. Young was clearly inspired by the other musicians (trumpeter Roy Eldridge, trombonist Vic Dickenson, pianist Teddy Wilson, guitarist Freddie Green, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Jo Jones), who together made for a very potent band of swing all-stars. The five songs on this album include some memorable renditions of ballads and a fine version of "You Can Depend on Me," but it is the explosive joy of the fiery "Gigantic Blues" that takes honors.

Jazz Ballads - the ultimate musical expression of feelings. A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz. Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music. Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values. Jazz in its most gentle form.

Charlie Parker - Jazz at the Philharmonic "1946" (1996) {Giants Of Jazz CD53107 rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 349 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1946, 1996 Giants Of Jazz / Promo Sound AG | CD 53107
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Saxophone

The 1946 Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts were true all-star events. This CD compiles portions of two different evenings. The first track, from January, includes trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Al Kilian, and Howard McGhee and saxophonists Charlie Parker, Willie Smith, Charlie Ventura, and Lester Young in the front line. Young, having recently gotten out of the military service, is still not at full strength, with Parker and Gillespie taking charge in the rousing "Sweet Georgia Brown." McGhee takes Dizzy's place on the remaining January numbers.

Jazz Ballads - the ultimate musical expression of feelings. A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz. Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music. Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values. Jazz in its most gentle form.

A wonderful collector's edition of jazz pianists' records in almost all styles from the first ragtimes to modern jazz.

While Hawkins represents the beginnings and one of the summits of jazz tenor saxophone, Frank Wess slips in the back door as one of the finest of the many second-generation players coming out of both Bean and Lester Young's lineage. Taking off from his groundbreaking work with Fletcher Henderson in the '20s and his pinnacle "Body and Soul" solo from 1939, Hawkins spent a good deal of the '40s rubbing shoulders with bebop youngsters and forward-looking swing players on a variety of small-combo recordings; he is heard here on a few such dates from 1940 and 1943. Teaming up with stellar big-band contemporaries like trumpeter Roy Eldridge, alto saxophonist Benny Carter, and drummer Sid Catlett, among others, Hawkins is in fine form on a mix of ballads and swingers for the 1940 session…