Lester Young (1909-1959) Class of 2004 "Originality's the thing." Lester Young once said. "You can have tone and technique and a lot of other things but without originality you ain't really nowhere. Gotta be original." He took up the tenor saxophone at a time when it was defined by the big swaggering sound of Coleman Hawkins and showed there was another way to play – soft-spoken, laid-back, elegant, "cool." With his porkpie hat tilted on his head, and his horn angled toward the heavens, he relaxed the rhythms of jazz. His friend and recording partner, Billie Holiday, gave him his nickname: "Prez" – for "President." Inspired by the sweet lyricism of Frank Trumbauer, Young rose to prominence as a member of the Count Basie Orchestra during the 1930s. He was "like a pixie with a blowtorch," one musician remembered, dueling onstage every night with his tenor rival, Herschel Evans. But he preferred the freedom and elasticity of a small group and emerged from World War II as a leader in his own right, with a series of quintets that showcased his wit, his unmistakable sound and his endless flights of imagination. Photo credit: Herman Leonard