Known as President of the Tenor Saxophone, Lester Young was one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of the Twentieth Century, according to scholar and educator Douglas Henry Daniels, who wrote the most definitive biography of Lester Young.
In his book, Lester Leaps In: The Life and Times of Lester “Prez” Young, Daniels points out that Young’s music style was unique and Young was an individualist, always experimenting. Daniels also informs readers that Young was a gifted musician, a superior musician, and that although he was a colorful character, he was actually a gentle, sensitive artist. At times he was also aloof and elusive.
There's a jazz poem “Lester Leaps In” (from a book titled Something About the Blues, by American poet Al Young ) that speaks to saxophonist Lester Young’s personality. It says:
Here lived a man so hard and softspoken/ he had to be cool enough to hold his horn/ at angles as sharp as he was heartbroken/ in order to blow what it's like to be born.
The poet probably named his poem “Lester Leaps In” after Lester Young’s original jazz music standard of the same title.
The poet probably named his poem “Lester Leaps In” after Lester Young’s original jazz music standard of the same title.
According to another Al Young poem, “Prez in Paris, 1959,” saxophonist Lester Young had moved to Paris by 1959, when his health was poor. He recorded the album “Lester Young in Paris” at Barclay Studios, on March 4, 1959. He died the next morning.
A portrait of Lester Young is included in the American Cool Exhibit currently on display at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Lester Young was considered to have been one of those major American talents to have ushered in the concept of certain persons being “cool.” The exhibit will be on display until September 7, 2014. 
