Dan Gould Posted July 9, 2013 Report Posted July 9, 2013 So I was perusing the Lester Young Boston 1950 thread and when I checked it's Amazon page I noticed a number of Pres biographies available. Anyone care to recommend one or another? Thanks in advance! Quote
jazzbo Posted July 9, 2013 Report Posted July 9, 2013 I like the Porter and (although some don't) the Daniels. Quote
John L Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 I like the Porter and (although some don't) the Daniels. Ditto Quote
JSngry Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 Porter for the music, Daniels for the life, but get that Lester Young Reader thing for the overall reality. Quote
mikelz777 Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) You Just Fight for Your Life: The Story of Lester Young by Frank Buchmann-Moller. You won't be disappointed. The Daniels book did nothing for me, I couldn't finish it. Edited July 10, 2013 by mikelz777 Quote
brownie Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 You Just Fight for Your Life: The Story of Lester Young by Frank Buchmann-Moller. You won't be disappointed. Second that. Excellent book! Also worth reading is the biography by Lewis Porter http://www.amazon.com/Lester-Young-Perspectives-Lewis-Porter/dp/0472089226 Quote
Big Beat Steve Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) Bought the Lester Young Reader first (in the late 90s), found it very interesting (like JSngry said ...) and the bio by Lewis Porter later on but don't have the Buchmann-Möller book (of which I'd heard but no copy was available at the time I bought my Prez books). At the time I bought the bio by Porter I also got me a copy of "Being Prez - The Life and Music of Lester Young" by Dave Gelly (following some recommendations on this board IIRC). I haven't really done any "comparative" reading of the Porter and Gelly books but somehow find the Gelly book less "technical" and therefore more accessible for non-musicians than part of the Porter bio, though a bit brief (too brief?). Any opinions out there on the Gelly book? Edited July 10, 2013 by Big Beat Steve Quote
Dan Gould Posted July 10, 2013 Author Report Posted July 10, 2013 You Just Fight for Your Life: The Story of Lester Young by Frank Buchmann-Moller. You won't be disappointed. The Daniels book did nothing for me, I couldn't finish it. The former is the one I pulled the trigger on last night, and I realized after starting the thread that I have the latter, and totally agree with you about it. Thanks for the replies. Quote
jazzbo Posted July 10, 2013 Report Posted July 10, 2013 Interesting that there are conflicting opinions on the Daniels. I found it fascinating. Need to revisit it one of these days. Quote
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