Pres & Sweets - Lester Young and Harry Edison

Pres and Sweets pairs tenor saxophonist Lester Young with trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, recorded in 1955 for Norman Granz's Norgran label (later reissued on Verve). The rhythm section features Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums. The eight-track program includes standards like "Pennies from Heaven," "Mean to Me," and "She's Funny That Way" alongside the jam-session vehicles "I Found a New Baby," "One O'Clock Jump," and the improvised "Red Boy Blues." Young and Edison had been bandmates in Count Basie's orchestra in the late 1930s, where Edison earned his nickname for his sweet-toned, muted trumpet playing. Their reunion here captures the easy rapport of musicians who share a musical vocabulary developed over decades. Young's tenor sound, by the mid-1950s, had deepened from the airy lightness of his Basie years into something more melancholy and world-weary, while Edison's muted trumpet retained its lyrical charm. Peterson's trio provides characteristically robust support. The album belongs to a series of Granz-produced sessions designed to pair compatible soloists in a swinging, informal setting — a format that produced some of the most natural-sounding jazz recordings of the era.