Customer Reviews

Ben Webster: His Life and Music

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Ben Webster was one of the great tenor sax players in the history of jazz. Best known for his productive two-year stint with Duke Ellington (1940-42), Webster was an original and distinctive soloist whose greatest strength was as a ballad player. After he leaving Ellington, he embarked on a thirty-year solo career, but his Swing-oriented style fell from favor by the late '40's. He recorded frequently in the Fifties and Sixties, but he struggled to match his earlier achievements. He left the U.S. and settled in Europe in the Sixties, and he died there in 1973.

A full-length biography of Webster is long overdue, and the void has been filled by this book. Unfortunately, Jeroen De Valk 's biography is only a partial success. Webster's early career and Forties heyday are covered in adequate fashion, but there does not seem to be much new research. Nor is there any serious analysis of his music. The author fails to fully convince the reader of Webster's greatness as a musician, which is a puzzling ommission.

The book's greatest problem, however, is its emphasis on Webster's European years, which were a sad, alcoholic period in his life that produced little memorable music. The author is Dutch, and most of his direct sources are apparently Europeans that knew Webster during his last years. Half of the text focuses on this period, and gives the book a rather awkward imbalance. Still, its nice to have a biography of this legend, and the book includes a very useful discography of Webster's recordings.

Great story of his life and his music. Appropriate title indeed of the best tenor sax ballad players ever. His Chelsea Bridge and Time After Time songs are greatest if you want to hear the Breathy Sound Ben Webster can make. Long live his legend!