Billy Lester

  • Three new composers

    These are all seasoned jazz artists whose compositions are new to jazzleadsheets.com. Alto saxophonist Justin Robinson is the youngest of the three, but he's been on the scene for quite a long time. He started his recording career with The Harper Brothers in 1988; did his own first album as a leader for Verve Records in 1991; among other projects, he played and recorded with trumpeter Roy Hargrove for many years.

    Organist Larry Young, Jr., a major influence on organ in the 1960s and 1970s, brought "free, swirling chords, surging lines, and rock-influenced improvisations." We're starting with some of his early compositions.

    Pianist Billy Lester has his own unique story, as you will hear in his music. Billy is a wildly creative improviser with a sly melodic sense. His playing and composing offer a very personal, modern take on the Tristano tradition. The NY Times reported on Billy's first conversation with Tristano, at the Half Note in NY: “He had this sweet voice,” Lester recalls, “and what he said was: ‘The guys who are out there playing all the time, it just becomes a business.’ When he said that, it resonated with me. I knew that he was playing because he was an artist.”

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