Customer Reviews

Ben Webster's Finest Hour

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Ben Webster played a breathy unfocused tenor mostly in a warm "swing" style. He spanned several eras; he was the first tenor player featured as a solo player in Ellington's band, and yet continued to play and record into the 70s. At one point (and there are samples on this album) he played in a group with Gerry Mulligan who was a post-bop, cool jazz style baritone player; the combination really sparkles. This compilation album is a good introduction and enjoyable through every cut.

Contemporary tenor players tend to have a creamier, more focused sound and play a lot more notes and a lot of altissimo, in a style heavily influenced influenced by Coltrane (who was a lot easier to listen to than most of his followers). Ben Webster's style is more in the nature of using the tenor sax like a human voice, lots of breathy low notes with a soft "foo foo" attack, sliding into and out of notes, plenty of subtones. Every note in every song is musical (unlike a lot of contemporary jazz which to me sounds more like the implementation of mathematical formulas in the guise of music).

In addition to the Mulligan collaboration, some of the standout cuts are the Billie Holiday rendition of "Do Nothing Til you Hear from me", which is an excellent duet between the sax and the vocal, and "Stardust" which showcases the capabilities of the sax to express emotions in a manner that emulates the human voice.

That is how I would describe Ben Webster's playing. Every cut on this album is a joy to listen to although my favorites are La Rosita with Coleman Hawkins and Chelsea Bridge with Gerry Mulligan. To listen to Webster playing duets with these other giants of the sax helps to put his tone and unique sound into perspective. This is my first cd by Webster but I am going to check out some others as result of listening to this.

Because Ben recorded mostly with Verve and subsidiaries, this survey disc is, unlike most, very broad in the included styles and tone pallette. Almost every track is from a different source recording. The guest artist list is like a who's who of jazz: Fletcher Henderson, Billie Holliday, Johnny Hodges, Sweets Edison, Oscar Peterson, mentor Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, (pant,pant) just to cherry pick the highlights. You've got every setting imaginable: big band, orchestras with strings, vocals, and small combos, old and new. You've got Ben blowing full blast (for which playing he had the nickname "the Beast"), Ben playing a piano piece, and some signature ballad numbers. A great introduction for the uninitiated, and a nice selection of rarities for the devoted fan. On all but a few old tracks, the superb sound quality shows that the most recent fully remastered sources were used. As a companion piece, I would also pick up Quiet Now: Until Tonight for a great collection of just ballads.