“Lester Leaps In”
Composed by Lester Young; “head” arrangement by Lester Young and Count Basie.
Recorded by Count Basie Kansas City Seven for Vocalion on September 3, 1939 in New York.
(Session produced by John Hammond.)
William J. “Count” Basie, piano, directing: Lester Young, tenor saxophone; Wilbur “Buck” Clayton, trumpet; Dicky Wells, trombone; Freddie Green, guitar; Walter Page, bass; Jonathan “Jo” Jones, drums.
The story:
So much was going on in the world in general and in the world of swing when this recording was made. World War II had just begun in Europe on September 1, 1939. Here in the United States, many leaders were in denial about how pervasive that war would ultimately become. Consequently, an unreal period of ever more destructive war began elsewhere, but not in the States. That ended abruptly on Sunday December 7, 1941, and the day after.
In the world of swing, Count Basie, with the help of John Hammond, signed a contract to record for the Columbia family of record labels in early 1939. Hammond, a man of wealth and position, was a gadfly who irritated and helped musicians simultaneously. Basie, a man of serene disposition, blended with street-smarts and iron willpower, recognized a patron when he saw one, and Hammond was definitely a Basie patron. Hammond’s regard for Basie and his music was high, and for Basie’s star tenor saxophone soloist Lester Young, higher. In addition, Hammond had heard the smaller version of Basie’s big band in Kansas City in 1936, and the impression that experience left on him was both deep and lasting. Hammond never lost his desire to make recordings of Basie and Young playing jazz in informal small-band settings.
His first involvement in doing that was when he facilitated a recording session of Basie, Young and others in late 1936. The preternatural recording of “Lady Be Good” they made then, among a few others, was the result. (A link to the story and music of that now fabled recording session can be found at endnote 1.) Due to Basie’s improvident though understandable (1A) signing of a contract in late 1936 to make recordings exclusively for Decca Records, he was essentially precluded from working with Hammond in a commercial recording setting through the years 1937 and 1938. Nevertheless, Hammond was involved in assisting a group of musicians associated with Basie, including Lester Young (but not Basie himself), to make a delightful grouping of records for Commodore Records in September of 1938. (A link to the story and music of that recording session can be found at endnote 2.)
By the time Hammond finally got Basie into a commercial recording contract that brought the two men into ongoing contact in recording studios (by 1939, Hammond was a producer for Columbia, and he produced many of Basie’s recordings then), the major hurdle was that Columbia rightly wanted a lot of “product” featuring the Basie big band, not small group jazz. But by the time the recording presented with this post was made, Columbia had accrued quite a few Basie big band recordings, and Hammond was able to convince his bosses that a few Basie small group jazz recordings would provide Count’s fans with bit of musical variety. (Above right: John Hammond and Count Basie. Together they produced a lot of great music. Above left: Lester Young.)
The music:
In trying to gain a better understanding of the music of the swing era, I often consult various books about it in my library. One book I have found to be valuable is: The Swing Era …The Development of Jazz – 1930-1945 (1989), by Gunther Schuller. Mr. Schuller was a well-trained musician who had a successful career as a musician/composer/conductor. In the 1960s, he took on the rather overwhelming task of writing two books that attempted to survey a good bit of the recorded jazz from the years 1920-1950. The books that resulted were the one mentioned above, and an earlier volume, Early Jazz, which was published in 1968. Mr. Schuller’s ability to listen to a piece of music and then explain it from a technical standpoint was great. The many examples of this in the two books mentioned above make them invaluable for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the recorded jazz made in those years, from the technical standpoint.
When both of those books were published, they were met with considerable critical approval. They both filled a void in jazz criticism and education which, for most of the first three-fourths of the Twentieth Century, was limited to casual reviews of the music often done for the contemporary music press, and on occasion, as liner notes for the commercial releases of the recordings. Much has happened in the world of jazz criticism and education since 1989. In some instances, that further development has reinforced Mr. Schuller’s opinions, criticisms and analysis. In other instances, it has debunked them. I view this as a healthy process of evolution which generally has improved the body of scholarship that is now available for people who want to know more about jazz.
When I consulted Schuller’s analysis of the Count Basie/Lester Young recording of “Lester Leaps In” presented with this post, I was surprised at what I found. Mr. Schuller began his discussion with this rather astonishing opinion: “Though featuring a good Young solo, “Lester Leaps In” is still, in its totality, marred by serious flaws.” In an attempt to justify this opinion, Mr. Schuller went down a couple of technical rabbit holes that, in his view, proved the assertion he made. Instead of basing my opinions regarding “Lester Leaps In” on technical examination, I will base them on what I hear in the overall performance by Count Basie, Lester Young and their associates. I have found again and again that the music itself is the best evidence.
There is no doubt that this performance was derived as a head arrangement done quite possibly in the recording studio by Basie and Young. It is my informed speculation that John Hammond, who produced the session, wanted Basie and Young to come up with a couple of original tunes that were, in the words of jazz historian and Lester Young expert, Loren Schoenberg: “…essentially jams with just a dab of organization.” (3) The finished product we hear as “Lester Leaps In,” is a contrafact based on the chords of “I Got Rhythm,” and is a superb example of jazz in the swing idiom. Both Young and Basie play magnificently on it.
Formwise, “Lester Leaps In” is organized as follows: Four bar introduction played by Basie and rhythm section; I) Chorus one – ensemble riff theme with bridge AABA, 32 bars); II) Young improvised solo (32 bars); III) Young, stop time, breaks and solo, (32 bars); IV) Basie and Young trading fours, (32 bars); V) Ensemble and Young trading fours except for Basie, who plays the bridge, (32 bars); VI) Final chorus – ensemble and Basie trading fours except for the bridge, where Basie plays solo; then the last four bars as an ensemble finale.(4)
Lester Young and Count Basie – their collaborations in the late 1930s and early 1940s advanced the art of swinging.
Things to listen for in this landmark performance include: Young playing the lead parts in certain ensemble sequences, with trumpeter Buck Clayton below him and trombonist Dicky Wells a bit lower. Also Young’s signature way of using a single note: “After the bridge of his second chorus comes …the repetition of a single note produces in varying textures through the use of so-called false fingering. Many notes on both brass and reed instruments can be fingered in several different ways, producing distinctly different sounds at the same pitch. This technique has become a staple, even a cliche’ among jazz saxophonists, not many of whom employ Young’s invention with an equal regard for form and taste.” (5)
Lester Young in flight with the Basie band at Treasure Island, San Francisco – Golden Gate International Exposition, October 1939.
A few words about Lester Young’s playing on this recording and generally: First, his sound was light and feathery, the antithesis of the massive resonances in the playing of fellow tenor saxophone titans Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. Second, his use of rhythm was the essence of swing – flowing, linear phrases, a very personal approach to syncopation, all delivered with edgy attack and quicksilver technique. Third, “…his emphasis on both the melodic use of fourths and fifths and the harmonious use of the sixth and ninth steps in the coexistence with a linear, horizontal concept of phrasing leads to a ‘stretched sound’ that matched (actually presages) Miles Davis’s creative pursuits. Davis utilized this technique as part of his musical approach when recording the album Kind of Blue (1959), which is an excellent example of modal improvisation. Further, Young’s phrases tend not to be based on stable chord sounds such as tonic, third and fifth, but on less stable ones such as sixth and ninth. The complex chromatic substitutions used by Coleman Hawkins were rarely in Young’s sphere of interest.”(6) Paradoxically, despite all of this, Young’s music making was mostly diatonic.(7)
Whatever the technical details, this recording is a supreme example of inspired jazz in the swing idiom, and of the inspiration that flowed between Basie and Young, and vice-versa.
“Lester Leaps In”
Composed by Lester Young; arranged by Bill Holman.
Recorded by Dave Pell’s Prez Conference for GNP Crescendo in Los Angeles in 1978.
Dave Pell, lead tenor saxophone, directing: Bob Cooper and Gordon Brisker, tenor saxophones; Bill Hood, baritone saxophone; Arnold Ross, piano; Al Hendrickson, guitar; Frank De La Rosa, bass; Will Bradley, Jr., drums.
The story:
Dave Pell (February 26, 1925 – May 7, 2017) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a cool jazz octet in the 1950s.
In his teens, Pell began his big band musical education with Bob Astor, Tony Pastor and Bobby Sherwood. In the 1940s he moved to California, where he played on Bob Crosby’s radio show in 1946, then became a member of Les Brown’s band intermittently from 1947 to 1955.
In 1953, Pell began leading his own bands, mostly an octet with himself on tenor saxophone, another saxophone (either a baritone or an alto), trumpet, trombone, guitar, and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section). His sidemen included Pepper Adams, Benny Carter, Mel Lewis, Red Mitchell, Marty Paich, Art Pepper and the young John Williams, who went on to great fame as a Hollywood film composer. Pell also worked as a sideman during the 1950s and 1960s with Shorty Rodgers, Pete Rugolo, Benny Goodman, and Gene Krupa. He also began working as a producer during this time for various record labels. His work in that field led him far away from jazz, including recordings by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. (Above right: Dave Pell in the late 1950s.)
I will quote from the liner notes that were written by Leonard Feather for the LP record that was issued in 1978 called: Dave Pell’s Prez Conference featuring Harry “Sweets” Edison to provide some context for this recording. “Prez Conference is an idea whose time has come, in fact is overdue. It is an odd fact of musical life that jazz improvisation, acknowledged as the backbone of this idiom from the start, went undocumented for several decades before a few observers began to accept, and build on, the fact that an ad-libbed solo by an eminent (jazz) performer it itself a melody – more valuable in many instances, than the theme on whose chord progressions the solo was improvised.” (8)
Setting aside the many successful attempts to set lyrics to jazz improvisations, and ensemble instrumental passages done since the 1940s by artists like Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and The Manhattan Transfer, among others, we find that the idea of writing down a brilliant improvisation, and then having musicians play it either in unison or harmonized as a section, though valid and rewarding in musical terms, was not, before the early 1970s, pursued too often. The first widely heard such exercise in the world of swing was the use of Bunny Berigan’s famous improvisation on Tommy Dorsey’s recording of “Marie” as a basis for a four-trumpet chorus, played in unison by TD’s trumpet section whenever they played “Marie,” as a tribute to Berigan after his premature death in 1942.
Although there were other similar transformations of improvised solos into music played by an ensemble, the most successful of these came starting in the early 1970s from a group of Los Angeles saxophonists who revered the playing of jazz legend Charlie Parker. Their approach was to take Parker’s solos, copy them verbatim as a lead line for a five saxophone section, then harmonize them, and perform them with a rhythm section and various soloists. They called their band Supersax.
The two musicians who were the animating force for Supersax, alto saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark, brought their idea to Dave Pell, who as noted above, was very active as a record produced in the 1970s. Pell thought it was a great idea, but he and Flory and Clark couldn’t get together on the various business aspects that were to be involved in the production of the first Supersax LP. Consequently, that LP was produced by someone else and released on the Capitol label. That first Supersax LP was very successful, and led to a number of follow-ups over the next several years. Pell took note.
He finally decided to produce his version of the Supersax concept, except he would use the improvised solos of tenor saxophone giant Lester “Prez” Young as his source material. The band would be called Prez Conference.(*) Here is how he explained that: “This project is something I had been giving a lot of thought to for a long time. Lester’s solos were so beautiful and so logically constructed that it was only natural that they would lend themselves to harmonization.” (8)
The music:
The ensemble saxophone sound one hears in this recording of “Lester Leaps In,” that of three tenors and one baritone, will be familiar to swing aficionados as being remarkably similar to the saxophone sound of Woody Herman’s famous recording “Four Brothers.” (That recording and the story behind it can be accessed at endnote 9.) Of course, here the ensemble saxophone sound is a paean to Lester Young, with parts or all of his selected recorded solos forming the melodic basis for the performances, but with no saxophone solos. The improvised solos are played by Arnold Ross on piano, and Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet.
Edison and Young were sidemen in the great Count Basie band of 1938-1940, and after, and it was Lester who bestowed the nickname “Sweets” upon Edison, in recognition of his invariably sunny disposition.(10) Edison, who experienced Young’s music firsthand over a period of years, and knew Lester as a person, was a truly well-informed Lesterian. In addition, Edison was one of the most personal trumpeters to emerge from the swing era, having a sound and playing style that was immediately recognizable. (Above right: Harry “Sweets” Edison.)
Prez Conference leaps right into the first chorus of “Lester Leaps In,” presenting the melody of the 32 bar AABA composition via the swinging saxophone quartet of Dave Pell on lead tenor, Bob Cooper and Gordon Brisker on tenors and Bill Hood on baritone. The second chorus spots those saxophones playing through stop-time, a Young specialty, for sixteen bars, then with rhythm section support on the eight-bar bridge, the eight more bars of stop time.
The third chorus belongs to Mr. Edison, who projects his trumpet sound with a Harmon mute (stem removed), long a trademark for him by the late 1970s. His playing demonstrates that he had preserved his trumpet chops very well, and also his creativity as an improviser. Notice the support he gets from the rhythm section: Arnold Ross on piano in an ultra-Basie mode; Al Hendrickson, whose credentials as a master of swing style rhythm guitar extended back to 1940, with Artie Shaw’s big band and Gramercy Five, here using an acoustical guitar in the Freddie Green manner; bassist Frank De La Rosa, walking in a way that would have pleased Walter Page, and drummer Will Bradley, Jr., son of the swing era bandleader and trombone virtuoso, who shows that he definitely knew how to provide a swinging and colorful rhythm platform for the band to work on.
Pianist Ross then steps out with a half-chorus solo where he presents his own jazz ideas effectively. He is followed by four-bar a vamp that sets up the return of the saxophone quartet singing, swinging and romping. In this sequence, Lesterisms abound. This is jubilant music. (Above left: Lester Young in the early 1950s. If he had been around to hear this music, I think he would have smiled.)
Leonard Feather, displaying a bit of sly humor in his liner notes, referred to the joyous music on this LP as Prezervation. Well said Mr. Feather! And well-done Dave Pell, arranger Bill Holman and the other participants in a rewarding Prez Conference.
The recordings presented with this post were digitally remastered by Mike Zirpolo.
Notes and Links:
(1) https://swingandbeyond.com/2017/02/17/lady-be-good-1936-lester-young-and-count-basie/
(1A) Basie signed with Decca in late 1936 because he and his band literally needed eating money then. A Decca representative offered Basie a sum of cash, and Basie signed a contact to record exclusively for Decca for a period of one year, with a one-year extension option for Decca. That option was exercised by Decca, so Basie was tied to Decca for two years. The reason why Decca signed Basie is because Hammond had been writing articles that appeared in the popular music press heaping praise on Basie. Hammond could well have approached Basie with a contract to record for another company earlier in 1936, but didn’t. He later reflected that at that time, he simply didn’t understand the competitive nature of the record business. The Kapp brothers, who ran Decca, did.
(*) “Prez Conference” aka “Mulligan Tawney” was also the name of an original tune by Bill Holman which he wrote for the Woody Herman band in 1953.
(3) Mosiac CD set Classic Columbia, Okeh and Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940), liner notes by Loren Schoenberg (2008), 14.
(4) The Swing Era …The Development of Jazz – 1930-1945 (1989), by Gunther Schuller, 249.
(5) Giants of Jazz – Lester Young (1980), notes on the music by Richard M. Sudhalter, 41.
(6) Zhang Qi, LESTER YOUNG’S PERFORMANCE POETICS AND PERFORMANCE STYLE: THE EXPERIENCE OF ANALYSIS Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, postgraduate student, Department of Interpretation and Analysis of Music; e-mail: 925726588@qq.comORCID iD: 0000-0003-3844-6043
(7) Having criticized Gunther Schuller’s opinions regarding the recording of “Lester Leaps In” presented with this post, I must nevertheless recommend to readers Schuller’s chapter in The Swing Era on Lester Young, pages 547-562. In it are many worthwhile observations about Young’s music and influence on jazz.
(8) Liner notes from the GNP/Crescendo LP Dave Pell’s Prez Conference, GNPS 2122 (1978), by Leonard Feather.
(9) Here is a link to Woody Herman’s “Four Brothers”: https://swingandbeyond.com/2024/05/28/four-brothers-1947-woody-herman-with-zoot-sims-serge-chaloff-herbie-steward-and-stan-getz-1971-billy-may-with-justin-gordon-bill-perkins-don-lodice-and-don-raffell/
(10) In the 1950s, when asked how he got the nickname “Sweets,” Edison said: “Well, this happened one day in March back in ’37. All of us in the Basie band were sitting around the lobby of the Woodside Hotel in Harlem. It was snowing outside, and we were waiting for the bus to go on a tour of one-nighters. We were all like brothers in that band. I was kind of the baby of the band and took a lot of the ribbing. So this time Lester Young was joshing me about my ‘sweet’ style and he said: ‘We’re going to call you ‘Sweetie Pie.’ They did, too, for a few months. Then they shortened it to ‘Sweets.’ The nickname has kind of lasted a long time.” Freeman, Don (January 25, 1956). “After 17 Years, Edison Is Taking Lessons”. Down Beat. p. 33. This story may well have been a canard, because with fellow trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Shavers, Edison was one of the most technically gifted and creative of jazz soloists to come to the fore in the late 1930s. The solos he played with the Basie band in the 1930s were seldom “sweet.” Also, Edison did not join the Basie band until early February of 1938.
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