Being Prez

The Life and Music of Lester Young

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Music Styles, Jazz & Blues, Jazz
Cover of the book Being Prez by Dave Gelly, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dave Gelly ISBN: 9780190450496
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: October 18, 2007
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Dave Gelly
ISBN: 9780190450496
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: October 18, 2007
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound. He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players. In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band. His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era. But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison. Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing. With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure. This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound. He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players. In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band. His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era. But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison. Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing. With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure. This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Monkey's Paw - With Audio Level 1 Oxford Bookworms Library by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book The Sixth Crisis by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Holy War, Holy Peace by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book The Reactionary Mind by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Human Rights and Human Well-Being by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Making Identity Count by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book The First Bilateral Investment Treaties by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Congenital and Perinatal Infections by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Pornography by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Ideologies of Colonization: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Central Banks into the Breach by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Ignorance of Law by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book Health and Sustainability by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book The American Slave Narrative and the Victorian Novel by Dave Gelly
Cover of the book The Moral Punishment Instinct by Dave Gelly
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy