Billboard : 09/29/1956
Score of 72

Lester (Pres) Young is less than a ghost of his once great self in this spotty set. Poor tone and feeble invention will scare off all but the fanatical followers. Edison‘s trumpet is not enough of an attraction. Best part is the rhythm section, with Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis. Good cover is a sales factor here.

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Army Times
Tom Scanlan : 09/29/1956

Norman Granz may or may not produce the best jazz records but he most certainly produces the most. Innumerable leading musicians are under exclusive contract to Granz, whose record labels are Clef, Norgran and Verve, and to those of us who review jazz records sometimes it seems that almost every musician in his stable has a new LP out each month.

Oscar Peterson, something of an eclectic who never forgets that good jazz has a good beat, might be described as “house pianist” for the Granz company, an assignment that satisfies this reviewer just fine.

I have no idea as to how many records Oscar has made for Granz but the figure must be astronomical. Surely this Canadian native (Montreal) must be the most recorded pianist in history.

The bassman in Oscar’s trio, Ray Brown, he of the big tone and solid beat, is also on many Granz records, another welcome assignment. I have heard some bassman as good as Ray, but I have never heard any better.

The sound is not always what it might be on some Clef, Norgran or Verve records, and occasionally you get the idea that his outfit is more interested in quantity than quality. Which is another way of saying that even when his record sessions obviously don’t come off properly (no matter who the musician, he has off days because you can’t turn inspiring jazz music off and on like a water spigot) the recordings seem to be released anyway, willy-nilly.

But after these things are said, jazz fans still should be mighty glad that Granz is in the business. He continues to record many great musicians who would probably be over-looked by other record companies, and in every batch of Granz records you will find some gems. To mention a few of his latest that way well worth the price:

Lester Young and Harry Edison sit in with the solid rhythm section composed of the Peterson Trio and Buddy Rich. Pres is in there most of the time, especially on Mean to Me, and Edison is a gas throughout. Dig Sweets on One O’Clock Jump. This is the first time these two standout performers with the old Count Basie band have recorded together in years.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Ralph J. Gleason : 09/23/1956

A wonderful, happy reunion of two of the great Basie alumni playing some excellent, middle-of-the-road but always swinging jazz. Highly recommended both for the solos by Edison and Young and the accompaniment by the Oscar Peterson Trio plus Buddy Rich.

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Washington Post
Paul Sampson : 09/23/1956

Lester Young and Harry Edison recall their Basie days in as collectively swinging a record I’ve heard. Things come to a rolling boil on Red Boy Blues and One O’Clock Jump. Excellent rhythm by Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis and Buddy Rich. Highly recommended.

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Down Beat : 10/31/1956
Ralph J. Gleason : 4.5 stars

This is one of the happiest reunions in recent recording history, this rejoining of the talents of two of the greatest of the Basie alumni. They are accompanied to perfection by Oscar Peterson, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Herb Ellis, guitar, and Buddy Rich, drums.

For a great reminder of things past, hear the way Pres comes in after the drum breaks on One O’Clock. For a perfect illustration of how to play extended solos and sustain interest (second-line modern cats, please note) hear the long Lesterian lines on She’s Funny. And also, on the same tune, the perfection of Edison‘s solo, the swinging, pretty piece of invention by Oscar followed by Brown’s bass line. These are a series of solos remarkable for their emotion and perspective held over a long passage of recording time.

Mean to Me is the least satisfactory of the tracks, but Red Boy is a fine basic blues with excellent Lester, and Pennies has the fine choruses by both Ellis and Edison. Highly recommended.

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Liner Notes by Unknown

This could readily be termed a reunion date. For until this one, Pres and Sweets, otherwise Lester Young and Harry Edison, hadn’t recorded together in some 10 years. The decade goes back to when both were contributing immeasurably to the rocking Count Basie orchestra. Historical note: Edison was a member of the Basie trumpet section for 17 years, starting in 1936; Young was the tenor saxophone spark in the Basie crew from 1937 until 1944.

In that time, Pres and Sweets were good friends and their mutual admiration fraternity was by no means based on shallow politeness but rather respect. (“Pres,” says Sweets, “was the greatest influence the tenor saxophone ever had. There are a lot of musicians, no matter what their instrument, who learned about jazz just by listening to Pres.” According to Pres himself: “No one get that nice tone on a horn just the way Sweets does…”)

On this album, you will notice a pattern which asserts itself on several sides. First, Pres Young starts off a chorus, then Edison comes in for his turn. As followers of the band will recall, this is precisely the plan which became well-known in the old Basie days. Buck Clayton‘s trumpet would invariably follow a saxophone solo by Herschel Evans and Sweets would always come along after Pres. There are other meaningful echoes of Basie to be found here. Pres and Sweets get together on the old Basie rouser theme, One O’Clock (which got its name only because, during a radio broadcast, Basie glanced at his watch before announcing an untitled jump tune. “What’s the name of the next one?” the announcer demanded. “Uh, er – just call it ‘One O’Clock Jump,'” replied Basie with a grin.) Another Basie standard, Pennies from Heaven, gets the Pres-Sweets treatment at medium tempo.

Included among the other selections is Red Boy Blues, an original co-authored by Young and Edison on a basic blues theme; That’s All, in light swinging tempo, and two ballads, Mean to Me and She’s Funny That Way.

Legend says that Lester “Pres” Young, in Kansas City, was listening to the Basie band on the air out of Reno, Nevada, when inspiration struck: Basie certainly must need a tenor man and Pres knew just the man for the job – himself. Pres, the story goes, promptly dispatched a wire to Basie, offering his services which, happily for all, were accepted. In any event, Pres, with his cool driving style (expressed while holding his instrument at a precariously wide angle) has influenced a generation of tenor saxophonists, meanwhile earning for himself the undisputed title of President of the tenormen.

In common with Pres, Sweets Edison has always been the possessor of a highly individual sound, usually played in the low or middle register. “I never reach too high,” Sweets has said. Not long ago, Sweets recalled the first time he heard Louis Armstrong. “I was a kid of 12, back home in Columbus, Ohio,” said Sweets. “I went down to hear Louis, in person in a one-nighter and the more I heard the lower my jaw dropped. It was too much. I ran home, picked up my horn and just stared. I was so discouraged with my own playing I almost threw the darned horn out the window. Then I figured it this way: Louis is the greatest, there’s no one else; but he’s only one man and he can only play one job a night. There’ll have to be jobs for other horn men. So I do have a chance, after all. And that’s when I began to really work on my horn.” Today, Sweets has a large collection of jazz records – and they’re mostly Louis Armstrong.

The rhythm section for “Pres and Sweets” includes Oscar Peterson, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Herb Ellis, guitar, and Buddy Rich, drums.