Book Review

Lester Leaps In: The Life and Times of Lester "Pres" Young. By Douglas Henry Daniels. Boston: Beacon Press Books, 2002. ISBN 0"80707"1021. Pp. 524.

Douglas Henry Daniels, professor of history and black studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has written an insightful and elucidating account of one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of jazz. Lester Young provides a crucial link between the traditional jazz conception that grew out of New Orleans and the bebop revolution of the 1940s. Clearly, a deeper understanding of Young's work, aesthetic aims, and approach to improvisation would tell us much about jazz around the time of its great turning point, when swing gave way to bebop. But Young was private, withdrawn, and reluctant to reveal himself to any but his closest acquaintances. Suspicious of critics, businessmen, and reporters, he left few clues regarding his personal life, musical aspirations, or aesthetic ideals. Consequently, many aspects of his life and work are shrouded in mystery and controversy.