| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Lester Leaps In: The Life and Times of Lester 'Pres' Young. By Douglas Henry Daniels. (Boston: Beacon, 2002. 524 pp. $30.00, ISBN 0-8070-7102-1.)

Few biographies of influential musicians match the sensitive approach Douglas Henry Daniels takes in Lester Leaps In. Daniels interprets Young's life in a broad context, fairly assessing Young's brilliance as a musician and his reputation as a cultural stylist. Daniels locates Young's life 'within the context of what we know about his family, about the careers of other, contemporary musicians, and about Black history and culture.' Daniels challenges distorted versions of Young's life, particularly judgments made by jazz critics who saw Young as yet another musician to fall from grace through drugs and alcohol. Such a tragic story, although a popular cultural trope, obscures the rich complexity of a life and career such as Lester Young's. . . .

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