The brother of tenor saxophonist
Lester Young,
Lee Young had a distinguished career of his own, playing with such luminaries as
Benny Goodman,
Buck Clayton,
Nat Cole, and
Fats Waller. Born in New Orleans to a musical family (besides
Lester, sister Irma and father Willis Handy Young were also musicians), the Youngs moved to Minneapolis in 1920, where
Lee learned several instruments before settling on drums.
Lee played the TOBA circuit with the family band before moving to Los Angeles. From 1934,
Young played with
Clayton,
Waller,
Eddie Barefield, and
Mutt Carey, among others. He also worked at MGM as a studio musician, and played with
Lionel Hampton for a brief period.
In 1941, he recorded with
Cole for the first time. That year he also co-led a band with brother
Lester; the next year the band played the Café Society in New York. During the '40s,
Young accompanied the singers
Dinah Washington and
Ivie Anderson; he also played with pianist
Mel Powell, as well as
Goodman and
Hampton.
Young participated in impresario
Norman Granz's
Jazz at the Philharmonic tours in 1944 and 1946. He joined
Cole's trio full-time in 1953 and stayed until 1962. In 1964,
Young moved to the business side, working as a producer and executive for Vee-Jay Records. In 1979, he took a similar post at Motown Records. Acting was a minor sideline for
Young; he appeared in three movies in the late '50s, the best-known being the
W.C. Handy biopic St. Louis Blues. ~ Chris Kelsey