LESTER YOUNG (President of the tenor sax) Jazz History #36

Billie Holiday dubbed Lester Young the President of the Tenor Sax, ‘Pres’ for short, and he was certainly one of the most impactful, inspiring a generation of players in his mold. His was a melodic approach, playing across the chords rather than up and down. In his words: “It’s gotta’ be sweetness, you dig?” He was a true jazz ‘character’ with his trademark pork pie hat and an entire lexicon of invented phrases, what today would be called neologisms. Although his health and life took a downturn after an unfortunate stint in the military, Lester left a mark on jazz history that few can equal.
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The Jazz History series is a video adaptation of a PowerPoint presentation used to teach a university course. It traces the roots of jazz from Ragtime at the turn of the 20th century to jazz-rock fusion at the end of the 1960s. You’ll find a lot more videos like this one in the JAZZ HISTORY playlist on this channel.
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JAZZ TACTICS SUGGESTIONS
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MORE INFORMATION
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