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COMING SOON! • SIGN UP for FRIENDS & FAMILY SCREENING • SEE OUR NEW TRAILER BELOW •

PRESIDENT OF BEAUTY

A documentary TRIBute TO the artist who made jazz modern: Lester Willis YOUNG.

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On February 6, 1959 François Postif interviewed Lester Young in his hotel room in Paris, France. This interview forms the backbone of our film: Lester speaking about his life and music and friends in his own words. Listening to it one can see Prez slow-walking the streets of Paris, in bed smoking, his green eyes lively below his porkpie hat, sipping top & bottom, remembering Mississippi, New Orleans and his days with the “Holy Man”, Count Basie.  Lacking photographs or visual artifacts of this important interview, we chose to bring it alive through animation.

Conceived as a sequence of living album covers inspired by vintage sheet music, postcards and 1940s and 50s jazz album art, the animated sequences (which are now all blocked in, and styled but not yet full-motion), weave in and out of the stories told by historians and jazz greats, creating space and time for the viewer to enjoy Lester telling his own story, in his own, remarkable voice.

“Here comes Lester Young, walking real slow.”

— Wayne Shorter

SOME OF THE LUMINARIES INSPIRED BY LESTER YOUNG

ONE SMALL, DEDICATED TEAM

ONE GIANT LABOR OF LOVE

It has been a long road, and we have so much news to share! Our supporters have been generous, but our progress has been slow because we are all volunteers. We simply haven’t been able to raise the funds to do this any other way. And, you’ve probably been wondering where we’ve been, since there hasn’t been any time to update the website since 2017!

At long last, though, our small team is nearing the finish line. Editor Christo Tsiaras has worked his magic on the storytelling, and is wrangling audio. Dawn Stockbridge has worked out the style and storylines for the animation, and created thousands of cels — with more to go, while coaching summer interns in animated storytelling. Filmmaker Henry Ferrini has been doing producer-y things, while keeping us in soup and pastries… But seriously, he embodies the vision, and provides us with a collection of amazing connections and stories from a diverse and joyful group of people who all have one thing in common: Lester Young has inspired them to greatness.

If you love Lester, we think you’ll love the film, too. If you’re new to the project, please check out “Why a Film?” for more background. Sign up for our mailing list to learn about sneak previews, friends & family screenings, and (rumor has it) some cool fundraising swag!

President of Beauty: The Life and Times of Lester Young
Filmmaker receives $20,000 grant from NEA for President of Beauty
Filmmaker receives $20,000 grant from NEA for President of Beauty

Lester Starring in “Jammin’ The Blues” in 1944

For those who are new to Lester Young, this classic clip will give you a taste of his musical brilliance and sense of style.

After watching this and discovering how many musical geniuses have been inspired by Lester Young for decades, we hope you will agree that his story deserves to be told.

Click below to join the mailing list, and to donate to the finishing fund. And we’d love it if you’d share this page on your social media.