Soul Mates [Import]

Ben Webster, Joe Zawinul, Ben Webster Quintet | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Jvc Victor
• ASIN: B00004TZ68
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,837,168 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Too Late Now

2. Soulmates

3. Come Sunday

4. The Governor

5. Frog Legs

6. Trav'lin' Light

7. Like Someone in Love

8. Evol Deklaw Ni

Editorial Reviews

Japanese reissue of the classic jazz album originally released on Riverside. Featuring Digital K2 Mastering. Packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soulmates, November 21, 2005

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soulmates (Audio CD)

Joe Zawinul, at the time this album was recorded, was the pianist with Cannonball Adderley's group. He was a modern stylist with an affinity for Third Stream music; he would later be a key member of the fusion group Weather Report. That he would record with Ben Webster is somewhat a mystery, but for the most part, the pairing works well.

It's a well-balanced program that the group plays (Richard Davis [b] and Philly Joe Jones [d] round out the quartet, with, another surprise, Thad Jones added on cornet on half the numbers; Sam Jones [b] repalces Davis on Thad's numbers). There are a couple of slow ballad features for Ben's mournful tenor (TOO LATE NOW and COME SUNDAY), and another medium-slow version of TRAV'LIN LIGHT where Ben plays about as sexy as I've ever heard him play. Webster's own THE GOVERNOR is taken up, and Ben puts on his gruff bear suit for this one. Zawinul has a nice solo on EVOL DEKLAW NI (read it backwards), and his composition FROG LEGS has a clever boppish theme.

Thad doesn't get much of a chance to do anything, and you wonder if maybe he was in the right place at the right time and got invited into the proceedings. This album didn't set the world on fire, but it's a respectable addition to both Ben and Joe's discography. Three of the tunes had alternates made available in the LP days, and it's a surprise they weren't put on here. Oh well.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HouseMates, June 29, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Soulmates (Audio CD)

Ben & Joe were housemates for a spell; hence this session isn't such a mystery. Thad Jones, in at the last minute, doesn't play a lot, but adds much when he does, and even gets a song of his own in. Some fine playing, although the strange reverb on Ben's horn takes some getting used to after hearing other albums - the sax sounds somehow distant. Not my favorite for listening straight through, but with enough merit to warrant checking out. Not your Weather Report nor Cannonball-style Zawinul, but some nice "lost in the archives" playing, especially when Thad sits in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Coupling, December 24, 2009

By 

James E. Kiely "Jim Kiely" (Medford, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soulmates (Audio CD)

I second the notion that there is nothing odd about the pairing of Webster and Zawinul. From a historical viewpoint, this recording is a chance to hear jazz's past and future greats working together; from a musical perspective, it shows (once again) that across generations jazz musicians understand their own roots. So, the paring is a wonderful idea, particularly on "The Governor," which is tight and full of swinging bravado.

Once again, however, I find fault with production. As one of the reviewers suggests, on most of the tracks Zawinul's piano and the rest of the ensemble seem to be playing in two entirely different environments. While the piano is clear and "present" the horns, especially Webster's, seem to waft out of an alley window; meaning they sound cold, distant and flat. It is the oddest jazz recording I own, and the antithesis of Webster's true sound.

If you have enough room to collect albums that are more historically than aurally satisfying, this is a good one to have. You might want to pass it by if you are as well off simply knowing that these two great musicians once worked together.