In 1959, Ben Webster traveled to New York for a recording session beneath the supervision of jazz impresario Norman Granz. The day earlier than going to the studio, he ran into Budd Johnson, an previous good friend and fellow saxophonist, at Beefsteak Charlie’s, an off-Broadway bar and grill. Webster defined that tenor saxophone pioneer Coleman Hawkins was booked for the session earlier than asking Johnson if he may be free as nicely. Out of that likelihood assembly, Ben Webster & Associates was born, an excellent jazz summit celebrating the music of the swing period.
Webster was born in 1909, and started his skilled music profession with the piano. “The first time I ever heard Ben he was playing piano at a silent movie theater in Amarillo, around 1928,” Johnson as soon as advised jazz author Leonard Feather. When the film ended, Webster and Johnson began speaking. “He said he’d like to learn saxophone,” remembered Johnson, who agreed to provide Webster some classes. “I taught him scales and fingering,” he revealed. Eight months later, the pair’s paths crossed once more. “I ran into Ben and he had my old job with (jazz drummer) Eugene Coy’s band,” recalled a flabbergasted Johnson. “That’s how fast he learned.”
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Webster’s pure affinity with the tenor saxophone meant that regardless of being a newcomer to the instrument, he wasn’t in need of work. Within the early 30s, he bought a gig taking part in in Kansas Metropolis with Bennie Moten, whose group featured a rising piano star referred to as Depend Basie. Later in that decade, he joined the ranks of a number of well-known ensembles, together with these led by Benny Carter (a saxophonist who, together with Coleman Hawkins, was a significant affect on Webster’s sound and elegance), Cab Calloway, and Fletcher Henderson. In 1940, Webster joined Duke Ellington’s orchestra, although as a result of his relationship with the suave jazz aristocrat was a fractious one, he left after three years.
Within the Fifties, Webster got here into his personal as a solo artist. By then, the massive bands had largely gone, swept away by bebop, a small-group jazz revolution. However Webster stood agency within the face of the bebop tsunami, making data that stayed true to his swing and blues roots. His profession took off spectacularly when he joined jazz impresario Norman Granz’s Verve label in 1956. Three years later, Granz put Webster within the studio with the saxophonist’s idol, which produced Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster. Its success led Webster to reunite with Hawkins on Ben Webster & Associates, lower later the identical 12 months.
Becoming a member of Webster, Hawkins, and Johnson on the session was one other jazz luminary: The formidable trumpeter Roy Eldridge, whose dazzling fashion bridged the swing and bebop eras. Supporting the 4 horn gamers was a formidable rhythm part comprising guitarist Les Spann, pianist Jimmy Jones, bassist Ray Brown, and the previous Basie band drummer Jo Jones.
Starting with an epic 20-minute model of Duke Ellington’s “In A Mellow Tone,” a softly-simmering late-night groove, Webster and pals shifted into prime gear on the full-throttle swingers “De-Dar” and “Young Bean.” Webster’s was the one horn featured on a stunning cowl of the Forties Sinatra ballad “Time After Time,” outlined by his saxophone’s languorous, lower-register breathiness. The album closed with “Budd Johnson,” a gradual blues Webster named after his good friend who taught him the saxophone.
Regardless of its non-descript title – which sounds a bit just like the identify of a regulation agency – Ben Webster & Associates is brimming with thrilling musical interactions. By sharing the highlight along with his chief affect (Hawkins) and his first and solely saxophone instructor (Johnson), Webster confirmed a generosity of spirit that overcame his aggressive impulses. It resulted in a high-quality collaboration that stands as one in all his most interesting creative endeavors of the Fifties.
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