Lester Young

Lester Young, the man they called Pres, is simply one of my eternal heroes. Where the saxophone giants of his era blew hard and heavy, Young floated, spinning light, lyrical, almost conversational lines that quietly pried open the door to modern jazz. Rising through Count Basie's orchestra, he reshaped what the tenor could be, and his recordings with Billie Holiday remain spine-tingling decades later. His 2004 Grammy Hall of Fame honor feels long overdue rather than generous. He died at just fifty, far too soon, but the cool, singing tone he left behind has never faded. His influence is everywhere in jazz.

Name (English)

Lester Young

Name (Japanese)

レスター・ヤング

Reading

れすたー・やんぐ

Born

August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Rooster

Origin

Woodville, Mississippi, United States

Occupation

clarinetist / saxophonist / composer / jazz musician / musician

Awards & achievements

• 2004 Grammy Hall of Fame

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester%20Young
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110714

Tags

• Mississippi
• clarinetist
• saxophonist
• composer

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.