Gene Lees Quotes

United States, Music Critic
February 8, 1928 – April, 22, 2010.

Frederick Eugene John Lees was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States, where he was a music critic and lyricist. His lyrics for Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado" , have been recorded by such singers as Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Queen Latifah, and Diana Krall.

Audiences tend to get the performances they deserve.

Gene Lees
There is a gesture he has, a motion, that always reminds me of a great batter leaning into a hit. He has a way of throwing one foot forward, putting his head down a bit as he silently runs the valves, and then the cheeks bloom out in the way that has mystified his dentist for years, and he hits into the solo. When that foot goes forward like that, you know that John Birks Gillespie is no longer clowning. Stand back.

Gene Lees
- Running
- Throwing
- Dentist

Despite his [Artie Shaw's] affectations of reclusiveness, he never tired of talking about himself, as countless long interviews reveal. I do not recall an anecdote he ever told me that was not in some way intended to convey a sense of his own superiority to everyone. . One wonders how a person of his character could produce such beauty.

Gene Lees
I have believed for many years that Oscar Peterson is not only the greatest pianist in jazz today, but the greatest it has ever known.

Gene Lees
- Greatest
- Believed
- Known