Some people have elevated Ben Webster to godhead status. Well, he is good. And those Blanton-Webster sessions are immortal. Worth every bit of praise the receive, but they are still essentially Duke's glory.How was Webster when he struck out on his own? Well I have not dug too deeply because the few mainstream releases I have encountered were, while not bad, but unexciting at best.
That would however exclude the session he made with Tatum, which is outstanding.
However these two odd sessions that I am sharing here go a long way to convincing that once again I may not know what the hell I am talking about. Good stuff these...
Ben Webster - The Horn
1. Teezol
2. Don't Blame Me
3. 'Nuff Said
4. Tea For Two
5. Woke Up Cliped
6. I Surrender, Dear
7. Dirty Deal
8. The Horn
9. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
10. Spang
11. Dark Corners
12. Blues Mr. Brim
13. Frog And Mule
14. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
1. Teezol
2. Don't Blame Me
3. 'Nuff Said
4. Tea For Two
5. Woke Up Cliped
6. I Surrender, Dear
7. Dirty Deal
8. The Horn
9. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
10. Spang
11. Dark Corners
12. Blues Mr. Brim
13. Frog And Mule
14. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
Tracks 1-8:
Ben Webster - tenor
Oran "Hot Lips' Page - trumpet
Clyde Hart - piano
Charlie Drayton - bass
Denzil Best - drums
from Circle Records 1982 reissue of a Feb. 8, 1944 session for World Transcriptions.
originally released only on 16" platter for radio station use. CLP-41; in original mono
Tracks 9-14 are from a Doctor Jazz reissue of a record that was originally released on Bob Thiele Music label. It was titled The Big Three and contained sessions by Wester, as well as Hawkins and Young. Their sessions will be showcased later I would assume.
Webster are from two sessions in May 1944, the 3rd* and 15th. Both have 52nd St. written all over them.
For the 3rd, the personnel were
Ben Webster - tenor
Idress Sulieman - trumpet
Tony Scott - clarinet
Sadik Hakim - piano
Bill DeArango - guitar
John Simmons - bass
Sid Catlett - drums
For the 15th, it was Webster, DeArago, Simmons, and Catlett with
Al Haig - piano
You find them both here
7 comments:
I can't wait to dive into these. There's very little Webster that I haven't heard (some of the European stuff) so this is going to be a real treat. I'll try to get back after hearing it.
Theanx for the Ben Webster...he can be great...
Webster at his best (and thats a lot of recordings) can stand with the giants.
Thank you
Quiero agradecer este post, yo tengo otra versión del mismo disco y difiere en las últimas 9 canciones, en el anterior tenía tomas alternativas, ahora tengo un panorama mas amplio.
When you say the 3rd*, is 'Nuff said ?, and when you say the 15th, where is it?, because there are only 14 tracks. ?????????????????
jose luis - relax dude. Please remember this blog is a labor of love composed in a small music room often accompanied by booze and other condiments. You just have to muddle through the mistakes. And a bit of thanks goes a long way.
Hookfinger, this record is really unknown to me, I can't imagine how do you find this one.
It's a beautiful Webster records, so ... many thanks for this gem.
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