Lester Young

Also known as Lester Willis Young

American jazz saxophonist (1909–1959)

OverviewAI-generated

Lester Willis Young was an American jazz musician born in Woodville, Mississippi, on August 27, 1909. He worked as a clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and jazz musician, primarily playing the saxophone, clarinet, and tenor saxophone. His musical style encompassed jazz, swing, and bebop genres. Young began his professional work period in 1933 and spoke English. He was an African American male citizen of the United States who resided in Missouri.

Young recorded for several labels, including Verve Records, Commodore Records, Savoy Records, and Original Jazz Classics. He received the Grammy Hall of Fame award. He died in New York City on March 15, 1959.

Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 981 inbound references to Lester Young, and connects out to Nat King Cole, Modern Jazz Quartet and Count Basie Orchestra.

Vinony files it under 1909 births, 1959 deaths and 20th-century African-American musicians.

Vinony links it to 35 Wikipedia language editions.

Film & TV

Woodville, Mississippi, U.S.

Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and sometime clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated harmonies,…

Known for

Improvisation — Self2004
Jazz — Self (archive footage)2001
Improvisation — Self1950
Jammin' the Blues — Self - on Tenor Sax1944
Policy Man — Himself1938

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United States
Active from: 1909
Active to: 1959

jazzswing

Discography

Member of

Discogs Stream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 608,022
Total plays: 5,369,924

Key facts

Also known as: "Pres" or "Prez"
Born: Lester Willis Young , ( 1909-08-27 ) August 27, 1909, Woodville, Mississippi , U.S.
Died: March 15, 1959 (1959-03-15) (aged 49), New York City , U.S.
Genres: Jazz
Occupation: Musician
Instruments: Tenor saxophone alto saxophone clarinet
Years active: 1933–1959
Labels: Verve Commodore Savoy Pablo Victor
Formerly of: The Count Basie Orchestra Fletcher Henderson 's orchestra The Andy Kirk band Nat "King" Cole Miles Davis The Modern Jazz Quartet The Bill Potts Trio

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Lester
Family name: Young
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Woodville
Place of death: New York City
Occupation: musician
Languages spoken: English language
Award: Grammy Hall of Fame
Genre: jazz
Instrument: tenor saxophone
Record label: Original Jazz Classics
Image: Lester Young (Gottlieb 09431).jpg
Residence: Missouri

Show 7 more facts

Commons category: Lester Young
date of birth: 1909-08-27
date of death: 1959-03-15
Commons gallery: Lester Young
birth name: Lester Willis Young
start of work period: 1933-00-00
ethnic group: African Americans

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez" (short for the "President of the tenor saxophone"), was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.

Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated harmonies, using what one critic called "a free-floating style, wheeling and diving like a gull, banking with low, funky riffs that pleased dancers and listeners alike".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lester Young” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.