Lester Young
Tenor Sax Solo on
Almost Like Being In Love

About

Lester Young's tenor saxophone solo opens the improvising on this medium-tempo reading of Frederick Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love" from The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Young takes one and a half choruses over the 32-bar AABA form in C at a medium 131 BPM, bringing his characteristically airy, melodic approach to the 1947 Brigadoon standard. The extra half-chorus allows Young to extend beyond a simple thematic statement, developing ideas across the form before handing off to Oscar Peterson. Loewe's melody, with its buoyant, romantic character, provides an ideal vehicle for Young's lyrical sensibility.

Lester Young was 42 to 43 years old at the time.