Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio

Defying what has become conventional wisdom, tenor saxophonist Lester Young cut some of his greatest recordings in the 1950s -- that is, when he was reasonably healthy. On this wonderful effort with pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer J.C. Heard, Prez performs definitive versions of "Just You, Just Me" and "Tea for Two," and plays a string of concise but memorable ballad renditions: "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Almost Like Being in Love," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "There Will Never Be Another You," and "I'm Confessin'." This is essential music from a jazz legend. [Some reissues augment the original dozen songs with a version of the good-humored "It Takes Two to Tango," which features Young's only recorded vocals, plus a rather unnecessary false start (on "I Can't Get Started," ironically), along with some studio chatter.]





1.Ad Lib Blues 0:00
Oscar Peterson / Lester Young
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

2.I Can't Get Started 5:53
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young 

3.Just You, Just Me 9:34
Jesse Greer / Raymond Klages
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

4.Almost Like Being in Love 17:15
Alan Jay Lerner / Frederick Loewe
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

5.Tea for Two
Irving Caesar / Vincent Youmans 20:50
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

6.There Will Never Be Another You 28:35
Mack Gordon / Harry Warren
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

7.(Back Home Again In) Indiana 32:04
James F. Hanley / Ballard MacDonald
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

8.On the Sunny Side of the Street 39:08
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

9.Stardust 42:36
Hoagy Carmichael / Mitchell Parish
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

10.I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 46:12
Doc Daugherty / Al J. Neiburg / Ellis Reynolds
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young 

11.I Can't Give You Anything But Love 49:54
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

12.These Foolish Things 53:17
Harry Link / Holt Marvell / Jack Strachey
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

13.(It Takes) Two to Tango: Rehearsal, False Start and Chatter, ... 56:50
Al Hoffman / Dick Manning
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young

14.I Can't Get Started 1:03:00
Vernon Duke / Ira Gershwin
Oscar Peterson / Oscar Peterson Trio / Lester Young



Lester Young - tenor saxophone, vocals on Two To Tango
Oscar Peterson - piano
Barney Kessel - guitar
Ray Brown - double bass
J. C. Heard - drums

Release Date August 4, 1952