AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD second release from Lester Young. This time we have included not only a couple of classic Count Basie titles which heavily feature “Pres” at his absolute prime, but also the formidable classic “The Jazz Giants”.

Unlike Duke Ellington's sideman, who often recorded under their own names in the 30s and early 40s, the stars of the Count Basie orchestra had few similar opportunities. However, many of Basie’s best musicians did grace small-group sessions led by Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday and Lionel Hampton, all of which are available on Classics. The present CD collates four informal studio encounters featuring the Basie alumni, a series of sessions never previously issued together on one CD.

This 10 CD set offers an exciting overview of some of the most important recordings made by American jazz stars in Paris in the Fifties. They are milestones of Modern Jazz, Bebop and Hard Bop recorded by some of the most important players of the time, including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Lionel Hampton, Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young and Donald Byrd. Treated like second class citizens at home, many American jazz stars not only got more recognition and respect in the French capital, but found much better playing conditions as well. From concert-halls like "L'Olympia" to the clubs of the "Latin Quarter" they were appreciated and celebrated, and their music met with a glowing enthusiasm.

Even critics who feel (against the recorded evidence to the contrary) that little of tenor saxophonist Lester Young's postwar playing is at the level of his earlier performances make an exception for this session. Young was clearly inspired by the other musicians (trumpeter Roy Eldridge, trombonist Vic Dickenson, pianist Teddy Wilson, guitarist Freddie Green, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Jo Jones), who together made for a very potent band of swing all-stars. The five songs on this album include some memorable renditions of ballads and a fine version of "You Can Depend on Me," but it is the explosive joy of the fiery "Gigantic Blues" that takes honors.

Here is a great overview, in 58 individual tracks, of an important time in the life of one of the most important saxophonists in jazz. Lester Young (The Prez), was a genius of the music, spanning the shifting expression from the Swing years into Bebop, and becoming a pivotal figure in both. Yes, he was also persecuted and self-destructive, and plagued by mental and physical illness for most of his life, but his marvelous mind not only set the standard for generations of jazz saxophonists, but gave us an entire lexicon of hipster/beatnik language that has become part of American popular culture. Someone should make a movie about Lester Young.

Lester Young's significance in jazz is not hard to gauge. His playing influenced almost every saxophonist that came after him. On this release, we hear Young teamed up with two other jazz legends, drummer Buddy Rich and Nat "King" Cole on piano. Following 10 tracks by this unique trio, we are treated to four additional tunes as performed by a sextet led by Young. The trio portion of this album is especially lush and intriguing, featuring wonderful renditions of Young's original, "Back to the Land," Gershwin's "The Man I Love," and a duet version of the gorgeous ballad, "Peg O' My Heart" (Rich had gone out to get something to eat). Cole's intimate piano style wonderfully complements Young's light, airy tone and unorthodox phrasing, and Rich, known for a flashy approach, plays quite sensitively here, using brushes on most tunes…

Part of Verve's Jazz in Paris series, Le Dernier Message de Lester Young is a reissue/repackaging of legendary saxophonist Lester Young's 1959 album Lester Young in Paris. Working with drummer Kenny Clarke, pianist René Urtreger, guitarist Jimmy Gourley, and bassist Jamil Nasser, the group cuts an archetypically Young-ian laid-back swath through such standards "Oh Lady Be Good" and "I Cover the Waterfront."

One of tenor-saxophonist Lester Young's final studio sessions (he died a year later), this date apparently had a lot of difficulties but the recorded results are excellent. Prez was joined by two great swing trumpeters (Roy Eldridge and Harry "Sweets" Edison) and a fine rhythm section for two standards, two originals and the ballad "Gypsy in My Soul." Young takes rare clarinet solos on two of the selections with his emotional statement on "They Can't Take That Away from Me" being one of the highpoints of his career.

The strong, powerful pianism of a great virtuoso, accompanying the Father of Cool Tenors Lester Young with guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown and drummer J. C. Heard. A splendid and enjoyable repertoire of great classical American standards as such Just You Just Me, Tea For Two, Indiana, These Foolish Things, I Can't Get Started, Stardust, On The Sunny Side Of The Street, Almost Like Being In Love, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, There Will Never Be Another You, I'm Confessin', among others.

While many critics have written off Lester Young's recordings from his last years leading up to his death in 1959, this previously unissued collection of material recorded at Olivia's Patio Lounge in Washington, D.C. in December, 1956 proves that he was still very much in command. Joined by a local rhythm section consisting of pianist Bill Potts, bassist Norman Williams and drummer Jim Lucht, the tenor saxophonist is still swinging mightily and in full control of his chops. There aren't really any surprises among the selections, which draw from Young's favorite standards and a few of his most requested compositions…

The second installment of four projected volumes, this once again captures latter-day Lester Young in top form, relaxed and playing with impeccable phrasing and swing. Ably backed by the Bill Potts Trio during his week-long stand at Olivia's Patio Lounge in Washington, these live tapes put the lie to the longstanding jazz myth that Young was well past his prime in the final decade of his life…

One of the great myths of jazz history is that by the final decade of his life, Lester Young was a burnout case, too drunk to stand up and play his horn, much less attain the creative flights of fancy that marked his groundbreaking work with Count Basie in the late '30s. But when these live recordings of Young playing with the Bill Potts Trio in Washington, D.C., were first released on LP in 1980, the jazz world had to re-evaluate its thinking. These privately recorded tapes revealed that not only was Prez far from being a broken shadow of his former self, he was blowing his heart out, obviously inspired by the playing of the trio behind him and the relaxed setting of the date itself. Kicking off with an uptempo take on "A Foggy Day," Young shows he's in full command of his chops, and the trio backs him buoyantly…