Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster [Original recording remastered]

Paul W. Coleman, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: 1452142726
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,162 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster first met at a Kansas City jam session at which Hawkins finally encountered his match in local tenors Webster, Herschel Evans, and Lester Young. The all-night meeting has become the stuff of legend (and a continuous thread in Robert Altman's film Kansas City, though there it's reduced to two tenors). Recorded by Norman Granz, this 1957 meeting supports the two with fine accompaniment that includes Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis. The material includes the great "Blues for Yolanda," with a honking, squeaking solo that suggests Hawkins is the father of all R&B tenor saxophonists as well as those in jazz, while "Rosalita" has an engaging Latin beat. There's also plenty of room for the two to display their ballad art, but there's no real competition between the two big-toned, gruff tenorists, each a mature artist enjoying the highest challenge a peer might offer. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous album with a nasty flaw, April 5, 2005

By 

Johnny Hodges (Clark Fork, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (Audio CD)

One of the most beautiful records ever made. The "Master Edition" sound quality lets you truly hear the heartrending tone of these tenor giants. Beyond jazz, this will move anyone with a pulse. After seven tracks that leave you emotionally stunned, where you kept turning it up to savor every nuance of tone and feeling, you suddenly get the sound of a recording engineer barking into a mike! The fools just had to fill some unused CD real estate and mar one of the most beautiful records ever made with some let's look behind the curtain "Blues for Yolanda" outtakes! Why not use "Maria" and "Cocktails for Two", tracks from the same session I've found on other compilations? So be ready to shut down your CD player after "Shine On Harvest Moon". Grafitti on the Mona Lisa, fercrysakes.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Meets The Eye, October 11, 2005

By 

Original Mixed Up-Kid "jg" (New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (Audio CD)

A classic of jazz, the studio work of these 2 giants together in this mid to late 1950's period put forth some of the greatest sounding music ever layed down.
Hawkinks the master,Webster,the sweet soul bluesman on these tracks are an amazing display of blues,and jazz with the great Oscar Peterson on piano.
There are a whole slew of recordings done in this 1950's era for Verve comprising a similiar lineup of these stellar musicians and many are on the Veve master-editions issue...not to be missed for those exploring are the Genius of Coleman Hawkins,Ben Webster and Associates,Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson,Ben Webster's Soulville..these releases were all repackaged with liner notes and given great treatment..
All of these "senior" masters were given their due late on in their careers but the greatness of their youth is revisited on this and the other fine releases.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Meeting of Giants, September 29, 2006

By 

Nikica Gilic - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (Audio CD)

Some might say (including historians, musical producers and liner notes writers) that Hawkins was much better than Webster, that only Young could equall his power with his unique approach. Even if this is true, the level at which Hawk and Webster play is so high that I see the meeting of two true giants.
Impecable rhythm section led by great Oscar Peterson always helps at these Verve style encounters and I feel that both tenor plays made the best of it. Whether it is gentle ballads, blowing the blues or harmonizing in rhythm, this CD should satisfy not only swing and mainstream fans but also modern jazz fans: mainstream by definition leans somewhat towards modern jazz and Hawk and Peterson particularly well blend the best of both worlds (as they did throught their careers; Hawkins even before modern jazz was born).
A classic.