Lester Young
Tenor Sax Solo on
One O'Clock Jump

About

Lester Young's tenor saxophone solo is the second of three solos on "One O'Clock Jump" from the 1955 Pres & Sweets session. Young takes seven choruses of blues in D-flat at a driving 238 BPM, delivering the longest solo on the track and one of his most extended statements on the session. The key shifts from F to D-flat for the horn solos, a common arranging device that raises the energy. Playing Basie's theme holds personal significance for Young, who was a central figure in the Count Basie Orchestra during its most celebrated period in the late 1930s. The seven-chorus length allows Young to demonstrate the full range of his blues vocabulary.

Lester Young was 45 to 46 years old at the time.