Lester Lanin
Lester Lanin was the best known of a family of musical siblings who, between them, managed to keep a major presence in music for close to 80 years. He was, like his brothers Sam and Howard, a bandleader; and while technically his category of music was "jazz," his actual connection to jazz was peripheral at best, and more ephemeral than, say, that of Glenn Miller. He used jazz musicians and some of the elements of jazz in his music, but not by the biggest stretch of the imagination did Lanin or his band play jazz. The youngest of ten sons of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, he was born in Philadelphia in 1907. Amazingly, in a family filled with musicians, and despite his own musical training growing up, he intended to become an attorney; but by his mid-teens he'd rejoined the fold and given up school in favor of performing -- and he wouldn't stop for another 80 years. Lanin played in bands from age 15 on, and also learned the business side of the business, and by the late '20s he'd started and was leading his own band. Unlike his brother Sam, who had been leading bands for a decade and had some understanding of and appreciation for the then-new sounds of jazz -- and recruited top-flight jazz players to do what they did best on record -- Lester's music was oriented toward the more conservative popular dance sounds of the period. He started in Philadelphia in 1927 and within a couple of years had begun to get engagements playing for some of the wealthiest families in that city. He was soon getting hired to play at parties in New York thrown by some of the most prominent families there -- families so well off that they were hardly affected by the stock market crash of October 1929 -- and that was where the seeds of his subsequent career were planted. Lanin and his band starting getting favorable mention in the newspaper columns that covered such events, which led to still more and bigger engagements among New York's upper crust. His big breakthrough, which was really only possible during that period at the start of the 1930s when the ultra-wealthy decided to ride out the Great Depression in high style, came in 1930 when he was engaged to play the coming out party of socialite Barbara Hutton. This was an event that was so heavily covered (and, indeed, eventually led to a more circumspect profile by the upper crust), that it made Lanin's reputation.
The appeal of Lanin's tasteful, eminently danceable music soon broke national and international boundaries. He spent the next 60 years playing for some of the most prominent patrons in the world, including the British royal family and most of the kings and queens of Europe. And beginning with the Eisenhower era, he played inaugural balls at the White House through nine presidencies. Lanin's stock-in-trade was the skillfully executed medley, and his ability to segue from one tune to another seamlessly, which -- coupled with the right choice of tunes and tempos -- kept people moving on the dancefloor for long minutes of enjoyable but not-too-strenuous footwork. Given the nature of his performances, he didn't come into his own as a recording artist until after the era of the 78 rpm record had passed. The LP was ideal for Lanin's medleys, and he recorded for Epic Records in the mid-'50s and for other labels into the late '60s, but these didn't do much more than preserve his art for posterity. Musically, he was only on the vaguest periphery of jazz, mostly in that he employed musicians who could play jazz, not that he ever really permitted it in his engagements -- indeed, next to Lanin, the staid, conservative Glenn Miller looks almost like a figure out of bebop for his occasional progressive and experimental tendencies; and though Miller was said to run his band like a Sunday school, Lanin was even more reserved in what he would tolerate from his players in the way of behavior. But Lanin had an audiences and managed to survive the advent of rock & roll, as well as such fads as the twist and other '60s-era dances, plus the disco boom, and worked right into the hip-hop era. Lanin continued leading his band right into his nineties before he retired, and his name was just well known enough so that it's vaguely familiar even to people both too cool or far removed from music. He passed away in 2004 after more than eight decades in the music business, at the age of 97.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
St. Nicholas - For Young Folks
Jazz - Paru chez St. Nicholas Day le 27 nov. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
In dear old London
Jazz - Paru chez In dear old London le 9 oct. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Music for Christmas Day (Original Songs)
Musiques de Noël - Paru chez Baby One Records le 14 déc. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Little Plain Gold Ring
Jazz - Paru chez plain gold ring le 21 avr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oldies Selection: Xmasss
Pop - Paru chez Pipe Dublin le 1 oct. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Merry Christmas with Jerry Lester Lanin
Musiques de Noël - Paru chez Christmas Evening Records le 7 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moon Shadow
Pop - Paru chez Studio Masters Rec. le 30 juil. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just at the Turn of the Tide
Jazz - Paru chez turn of the tide le 9 avr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Josephine
Jazz - Paru chez Black & Partner Licenses LLC le 25 mai 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Christmas Collection
Classique - Paru chez Vintage Hits Records le 29 nov. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz in Christmas
Musiques de Noël - Paru chez Jazz Dog Records le 2 nov. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Luminous Nights
Musiques de Noël - Paru chez The Christmas Lovers le 17 déc. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Christmas
Musiques de Noël - Paru chez Ladies Records le 15 nov. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo