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Lester Young sextet, Ray Brown trio
Royal Roost Club, New York

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November 27, 1948 (16 items; TT = 47:25)
Royal Roost Club, New York
Source/Quality: RB (B)

Kai Winding (tb); Allen Eager (ts); Hank Jones (ts); Ray Brown (b); Charlie Smith (d); Ella Fitzgerald (voc); Jesse Drakes (tpt); Ted Kelly (tb); Lester Young (ts); Freddie Jefferson (p); Dennis "Tex" Briscoe (b); Roy Haynes (d); Symphony Sid Torin (ann)

1 Lady Be Good (G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin) (Rifftide) 5:19
2 I Never Knew (T. Fiorito-G, Kahn) 3:22
3 Love That Boy (D. Raye-G. DePaul) 2:36
4 It's Too Soon to Know (D. Chessler) 1:55
5 (If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (E. Lambert-S. Coslow-S. Richard) (Mr. Paganini) 3:32
6 Ool Ya Koo (D. Gillespie-W.G. Fuller) (Royal Roost Bop Boogie) 2:55
7 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young) 1:09

"And so once again, ladies and gentlemen, we bring you the great Pres, Lester Young and his sextet featuring Jesse Drakes on trumpet, Ted Kelly on trombone, Ro Ha..., Ray, Roy Haymes [sic] on drums, Tex Briscoe on bass, and Freddie Jefferson on piano. Bring you the sensational, the gentleman of tenor, the great Pres, Lester Young here at the Royal Roost, ladies and gentlemen, where you can sit back and relax and dig the gonest. Old Pres, Lester Young, making his appearance at the Royal Roost for the first time and really breaking it up. Don't forget, just about ten days left to dig the great Lester Young, the All-Stars, the great Ella Fitgerald [sic] and the Ray Brown organization, too. Come on down, have a lot of fun with Pres, Ella, and... Ray Brown's wonderful group. And to start things jumpin' without wasting any more time, here's Lester Young and a record that everybody asks for when you call on the all-night, all-frantic one, 'Lester leaps In'..."
8 Lester Leaps In (L. Young) 2:55
9 Introduction 0:19

"Ah, that's our boy Pres... Ladies and gentlemen, the great Lester Young. The great Lester Young here at the Royal Roost with a wonderful sextet. And don't forget, if you haven't been down to the Roost, you haven't lived. Fall by and have a wonderful time. And right now, in a wonderful and relaxed groove, anoth... another one of the gate, great things that you ask for, Lester -- 'Ghost of a Chance'..."
10 I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You (V. Young-B. Crosby-N. Washington) 4:25
11 Introduction 0:11

"There's the beautiful and relaxed tone of the great Lester Young. Old Pres doing 'Ghost of a Chance', and without wasting too much time, here's another one of the things that Pres made that you all ask for, 'Just You, Just Me'..."
12 Just You, Just Me (R. Klages-J. Greer) 5:10
13 Sweet Georgia Brown (B. Bernie-M. Pinkard-K. Casey) 5:02
14 Introduction 1:21

"Oh, stick around, fellas, stick around... I don't know, I feel like I wanna have a, a birthday... a birthday session here. Let's pick out some of the musicians... that are in the other groups, let's bring 'em all together, and let's do one great big 'How High the Moon' type. So let's get Ray Brown up, and Allen Eager, and Kai Winding. Let's get everybody up here and blow this morning one time, heh-heh. Well, it only could happen down at the Royal Roost and believe me it's really a matter that the boys at the Roost have, oh more or less given a belated birthday party to your boy Symphony Sid -- they got a sign over there says 'happy birthday to, uh, Symphony Sid, the nation's number one meeskite' -- how about that? Well, that's the way it is, solid, that's the way it should be. And it's all a wonderful time and so let's, ah, get Lester and the group to get, to start jumpin' with 'How High the Moon', in comes... the other gentlemen, and we'll have Hank Jones come over and take one chorus, you play a couple -- you know, just, let's see, we've got about seven minutes, eight minutes. Let's see how much we can do with 'How High the Moon' and invite all the gentlemen, and then Ella will come in on the last chorus and sing 'One Little Taste', won't you, Ella dear? For me for my birthday? Ella's very hoarse this morning, she's been singing, and it's, well, you know, it's kinda rough. But I know she'll do that last chorus of 'How High the Moon'. Pres, let's go..."
15 How High the Moon (N. Hamilton-M. Lewis) 6:47
16 Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (L. Young) 0:27

"And so, ladies and gentlemen, 'How High the Moon', our theme in the background, with the All-Stars (splice) Ray Brown, everybody down here havin' a wonderful time. That's right, with our theme, 'Jumpin' with Symphony Sid', we hope you've had as much fun as we've had here down at the Royal Roost. Sit back and relax, and from now until six this morning call Circle-six-two-five hundred -- it's the all-night, all-frantic one, the Symphony Sid show sending you back now to the wonderful... studios, and here's Bob Garrity..."

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