Lester Willis Young, nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Young (left) in 1944
Young at the Famous Door, New York, N.Y., c. September 1946. Photo by William P. Gottlieb.
William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.
Basie at the piano; portrait by James J. Kriegsmann
Basie and band, with vocalist Ethel Waters, from the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)
Basie in Rhythm and Blues Revue (1955)
Count Basie (left) in concert (Cologne 1975)