Billy Lester: High Standards

ULTRA SOUND RECORDS 342 (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 12, 2025)

If he had not come under the tutelage of legendary pianist and Lennie Tristano disciple Sal Mosca, Billy Lester’s new recording would probably be like many other piano trios
working through a set of familiar standards. Thankfully, because of Mosca’s impact on Lester, High Standards is just that — a higher degree of explorations of tunes that have become the norm for many sessions. Rather than simply stating the melody and then improvising on these evergreens, Lester, like Mosca and Tristano, explores the rich harmonic structures of these familiar tunes often alluding to the melody but rarely stating it head-on. Lester and his trio of Marcello Testa on bass and Nicola Stranieri swing hard on standards such as “There Will Never Be Another You,” I’ll Remember April,” “Lover Come Back To Me” and “Just Friends.” They slow the pace down for “What Is Thing Called Love” and “You Go to My Head.” Lester’s dark and mysterious intro to “Out of Nowhere” gives that familiar standard a slightly unfamiliar noirish quality. Although Lester’s playing, with its melodic twists and turns, harmonic leaps and bounds and shifting percussive chord clusters, may seem a bit abstract, Testa and Stranieri keep the beat going much in the same fashion as some of the great bassists and drummers that came out of the Tristano school. Despite some well-played bass solos and drum exchanges High Standards is all about Lester’s unique approach to these compositions. As its name implies, “Free Improvisation” is just that — a nine-and-half minute solo performance of free flowing ideas unencumbered by the steady rhythms of Testa and Stranieri. According to Lester, Mosca valued beauty, integrity originality, sincerity and piano skill. It is apparent from listening to High Standards, that Lester was an attentive student. Fans of the Lennie Tristano school will enjoy this set of fresh variations that are full of intrigue and surprises. However, fans of a more traditional approach to playing standards might be left out in the “cool” with Lester’s approach.

BOTTOM LINE: Pianist Billy Lester could have easily played a set of standards in a conventional manner. But as a student of legendary pianist and Lennie Tristano disciple Sal Mosca, he opted to dig deep into the harmonic structure of eight familiar standards on High Standards. The approach may sound abstract to some, but Lester and his trio never lose sight of the essence of these classic tunes.