Customer Reviews

Soul of Ben Webster

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How can you go wrong with this 2 CD set that combines three late 1950's Verve recordings by Ben Webster, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Johnny Hodges into one set. Roy Eldridge comes along for the ride as well as a few other notables from the Norman Granz stable. This collection of music includes a lot of swing renditions of classic standards and some blues, and a few ballads. Each leader shines on his respective set, especially Edison who's selection of 8 tunes is heavily swing/blues oriented in a very Basie-esque style. Highly recommended if you're a small ensemble swing fan.

I write few reviews, and do so only when I feel I should support someone's music buying decisions (whether to buy, or to be warned). In this case, I believe your dollars will be very well spent here. Many reviewers will define the performances and/or arrangements of a recording, and I will say it would be hard to find finer than those contained here; but I would like the reader to know that the recording quality and its final presentation to you on these compact disks is superb. If you're a jazz CD listener, I'm sure that every once and awhile you come across a recording from the 50's and say, "Wow, that sounds like a top quality recording made today!" That's what you'll find here. Not only will you experience really supreme performances by Webster, Edison and Hodges, but the dynamics of several of the recordings seem to place the listener literally inside the musicians' instruments. You can almost see the light of day from within Webster's sax itself, through the opening and closing valves, and feel the moisture of his reed and the pressure of his bite (and I don't play an instrument). The squeezed sounds from the muted trumpet too are so perfect, and it's as if you're sharing the studio and sitting right next to these guys. Sometimes I come across a CD or set that I seem to play over and over; this is one of those.

One of my favorite Ben Webster albums. He is just amazing on the sax!