Lester Young and Chu Berry Jam!

It's not AI, just low-level editing...

I’ve already shared a few of my thoughts about Lester Young here (there will be a LOT more soon), but nothing so far about Chu Berry, one of the true tenor saxophone giants. Berry had a certain flow and ability to create long, long phrases that were unique for their time and place. In many ways, he led the virtuosic way for Don Byas and Paul Gonsalves as he snaked through the chord changes, leaving no chromaticism unexplored.

Aesthetically, Young and Berry were at odds. With few exceptions, Berry usually had his foot firmly on the gas pedal of his emotions, and it didn't take much for him to come close to flooring it. Young famously let things glide, and we have precious few recordings where he goes into high drive, hence The Great Lester Young Mystery. If he was known for one thing, it was vanquishing any comers with long solos, going into the dozens of choruses. This is why we examine every chorus he played for glimpses of that power.

Herschel Evans’ had long been Young’s foil in the Basie band, and his illness and sudden death in early 1939 brought Berry into the mix on the band’s last recording date for the Decca label. Already a fixture in the Cab Calloway band, Berry played one of his best solos on OH, LADY BE GOOD, full of odd nooks and crannies, and above, using his tremendous diaphragm to undergird the long, long phrases. Young’s reply finds him at his idiosyncratic best, especially the odd foghorn effect that starts his second 8 bars, not to mention his stepping over the changes in the second measure of the bridge.

Apologies to trumpeter Lester “Shad” Collins for removing his solo that separated the two tenor choruses.

For those who want to use a microscope, here it is at 75% of the original tempo:

What follows is a mishmash of two Teddy Wilson small group record dates straddling New Year’s 1938. The first, with Pee Wee Russell and Hot Lips Page and a subpar vocalist, remained unissued for decades. A few weeks later, Wilson gathered Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Benny Morton, Buck Clayton, Freddie Green, Walter Page, and Jo Jones from the Basie band to redo most of the tunes. Some rudimentary editing on my part lets us contrast how Berry and Young interpreted WHEN YOU’RE SMILING, aided by a modulation a fourth (not to mention the sterling Wilson piano):

Chu and Pres

I hope you enjoyed this chance to listen to and reflect upon where jazz was in the late 30’s, and the people who took it there.

More to come on Pres and Chu and many others…

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