Sunday, October 11, 2009

AOJ - Lester Young



Lester Willis Young
1909 - 1959
American Tenor Saxophonist

18" X 24"
Oil on Canvas

It's been a long time since I posted. Or painted things to post here. Or post-painted. But here we have Lester Young. According to Wiki, Lester was responsible for much of the "hipster ethos" surrounding jazz. Then Wiki did not explain himself. Maybe it's because of the pork-pie hat? Maybe it's because Mingus wrote one of the saddest, most hauntingly beautiful songs, "Goodbye Pork-Pie Hat" about LY? Maybe it's the drank himself to death after a doomed marriage, failure to meet commercial success, lack of money ethos so popular among jazz cats?

I don't know. I do know that he was a genius, that he played with nearly everyone who was anyone and that he always looked cooler than anyone else.

Check it:


How cool is that video?