Lester's 1950 DB Blues

A wonderment.
Lester plays so many shapes and phrases that never made it into his studio recordings, and just the general sense of play gives us a much more complete sense of what was at the essence of his music.
The totality of Lester's musical world remains, in a sense, a mystery. Mary Lou Williams remarked that it took him several choruses just to warm up, and none of the pre-Army recordings that exist give us an opportunity to hear that (yes, there are a few where he plays more than three consecutive choruses, but they are exception that proves the rule).
And lest we forget, what we hear was played for dancing, and who knows how many rhythmic shapes were transmitted between the bandstand and the dancers?
Lester Young, tenor sax
Jesse Drakes, tpt.
Kenny Drew, p.
Aaron Bell, b.
Jo Jones, d.
1950

Видео Lester's 1950 DB Blues канала Loren Schoenberg