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Ben Webster: Ben Webster and Associates
by David Adler
This tenor summit took place in 1959, a very short while after the death of Lester Young. Ben Webster is joined by Coleman Hawkins and Budd Johnson, two of the remaining tenor greats of the time. Roy Eldridge is also along for the ride. The rhythm section consists of pianist Jimmy Jones, guitarist Les Spann, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Jo Jones. Except for the up-tempo numbers “De-Dar" and “Young Bean," the mood is as bluesy and laid-back as can ...
Continue ReadingBen Webster: Cotton Tail
by AAJ Staff
RCA Victor recorded Ben Webster frequently during the 1930s and '40s, but not as a leader. The breathy tenor sax giant is heard strictly as a sidemen on this gem-laden collection (which spans 1932-1946), and he's in some first- class company. More than half of the disc's 22 recordings find him in Duke Ellington's employ, while the others illustrate the fact that Webster also did some excellent work with Lionel Hampton, Benny Moten, Benny Carter and Rex Stewart. Webster shows ...
Continue ReadingBen Webster / Oscar Peterson: Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
by AAJ Staff
It was once remarked that Miles Davis “knew how to play all the pretty notes." While this may be undeniably true, if there was ever a man who knew how to play all the pretty songs, it was Ben Webster. No other jazzman has ever mastered the art of the ballad as definitively as Webster. This is not to say that Webster couldn't swing with the best of them (you can ask the boys in Duke Ellington's band about that). ...
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