CD1
1. Tangerine; 2. La Rosita; 3. Cocktails For Two; 4. Shine On Harvest Moon; 5. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To; 6. Blues For Yolande; 7. Maria; 8. It Never Entered My Mind
9. Prisoner Of Love; 10. Soulville; 11. Late Date; 12. Time On My Hands; 13. Lover Come Back To Me; 14. Where Are You
1-9: from the album `Blue Saxophones' rec. Los Angeles, 16 October, 1957; 10-14: from the album `Soulville' rec. Los Angeles, 15 October, 1957
CD2
1. Makin' Whoopee; 2. Ill Wind; 3.Fajista; 4. Chelsea Bridge; 5. Charlotte's Piccolo; 6. Coal Train; 7.; When I Fall In Love; 8. Ev's Mad; 9. Ash; 10. All To Soon ; 11. Love Is Here To Stay ; 12. It Happens To Be Me ; 13. My Funny Valentine ; 14. You're Mine, You
15. Sophisticated Lady ; 16. Love's Away
1-2: from the album`Soulville'; 3-9 from the album `The Soul of Ben Webster' rec. New York in July 1958; 10-16 selections from the album `Sophisticated Lady' rec. New York on 28 May, 1954* & 30 March, 1954
CD 1: [78:50], CD2: [77:55]
Personnel: on `Blue Saxophones':Ben Webster & Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophones), Oscar Peterson (piano); Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), Alvin Stoller (drums)
On `Soulville': Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Oscar Peterson (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Herb Ellis (guitar), Stan Levey (drums)
On `The Soul of Ben Webster': Ben Webster & Harold Ashby (tenor saxophones), Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Jones (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), Mundell Lowe (guitar), Dave Bailey (drums)
On `Sophisticated Lady': Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Tony Scott (clarinet), Teddy Wilson (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Jo Jones (drums) and on some numbers 3 violins, viola and cello played by uncredited musicians. Also listed are: Billy Strayhorn (piano arr.), George Duvivier (bass) and Louis Bellson (drums). I believe these do not appear on these tracks but are on the three that complete the album that are not included in this set which may have been recorded on the above date *.
Just as Brilliant Classics is to classical music Avid Jazz is to
jazz - great repertoire and fantastic value. Avid Jazz are particularly
good at seeking out the real gems of `classic jazz' and cleaning them
up and presenting them as they say `digitally re-mastered for probably
the finest ever sound quality!' This 2 cd set is another fine addition
to their ever burgeoning catalogue with one of the all-time great
tenor sax players at the height of his powers. The first cd kicks
off with a stunning set aptly named Blue Saxophones in which
we are really treated royally with Ben joined by the other towering
figure in the tenor sax world of the period, Coleman Hawkins, credited
with virtually' inventing' the jazz style that suited the instrument
so well, in the 1920s whilst playing with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra.
The two of them create a wonderfully `fat' sound in some truly memorable
tunes that are so gorgeous you are mentally transported to a smoky
Los Angeles nightclub of the 1950s in a truly convincing way. The
sextet is completed by four of the biggest names in jazz history with
no less than Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown,
one of the greatest ever bassists and that keystone of the percussion
section Alvin Stoller on drums. Highlights for me were the opening
number Tangerine, La Rosita, Shine on Harvest Moon, Hawkins'
own Blues for Yolande, Maria,where the two duet to perfection,
and It never entered my mind in which the true meaning of
blue is potently evident and as it is in the final number
of the set, a beautiful rendition of Prisoner of Love. When
I said that Avid represents great value this is exemplified by the
fact that you don't just get a complete album but the disc is completed
by five numbers from the album Soulville with the remaining
two numbers from it beginning the second disc. This means that altogether
you get over 2½ hours of great jazz for less than the price
of one from any major label! Soulville is as the title suggests
another nice dose of blues. The first and title track is superb and
includes a wonderfully lyrical solo from Oscar Peterson who, along
with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown, reappears on this album too together
with Stan Levey on drums this time. Late Date begins with
Herb Ellis setting out the blues stall and is soon joined by Peterson
who has surely rarely played better than on this album though of course
his standard was always as high as they come. It seems churlish to
single any particular numbers out in this 2 disc set as it may imply
they are better than the others - they aren't, since the entire total
of 30 tracks are beyond praise but rather they stand as superlative
examples of jazz musicianship that is peerless in its execution, imagination
and sheer quality. As one might say "the best tracks are the ones
you're listening to at the time". I loved them all but you see what
you think. CD2 begins with Makin' Whoopee also from the album
Soulville with Ill wind bringing up the rear. The
disc continues with the album The soul of Ben Webster and
the opener Fajista sees a more upbeat tempo than we've come
to expect so far with a septet in which Ben is joined by fellow tenor
sax player Harold Ashby with Art Farmer on trumpet, while the rest
of the band is made up of Jimmy Jones on piano, Milt Hinton on bass,
Mundell Lowe on guitar and Dave Bailey on drums. The second number
reverts to the spirit of soul with a beautiful piece by Billy Strayhorn
Chelsea Bridge. Charlotte's Piccolo is a fine example of
Webster's compositional skills from among the eight that he wrote
that appear on this set of discs and it gives a great solo to Mundell
Lowe's guitar followed by a lovely one from Milt Hinton on bass. This
is a long track by most standards lasting a fulsome 15½ minutes
and allows for each musician to have his spot as soloist and there
is a particularly fine example from Art Farmer, not to say from Ben
Webster himself that closes the number. At the start of When I
fall in love you can hear Milt Hinton behind Webster using his
bow and I don’t know about you but I’d like to hear more bowing in
soulful bluesy numbers as I think it adds another dimension. Ev’s
mad brings us back an up-tempo example with some great guitar
and the fast pace is maintained with the album’s closing number Ash
with some great pianism from Jimmy Jones backed by Dave Bailey’s finely
measured drumming which is kept up when Mundell Lowe takes over from
Jones followed by a duet between Bailey and Milt Hinton before Ben
enters with another fine solo. What is always striking is the way
in which each number is so complete in itself; a musical story beautifully
told with perfect proportions throughout and which lacks nothing in
the telling. The final numbers that close the 2 cd set are a selection
of 7 out of 10 from the album Sophisticated Lady, subtitled
Ben Webster with Strings in which 3 violins, a viola and
a cello played by unlisted musicians accompany the quintet on some
of the tracks. The album’s title track is especially fine. I think
Avid’s claim about the quality of the cleaned up version stands, particularly
when you consider these tracks were recorded 57 years ago! I cannot
recommend this 2 cd set too highly, representing as it does some of
the most celebrated and talented jazz musicians of all time at their
peak of creativity at a not to be missed price; in fact jazz lovers
should check out Avid’s complete catalogue for some fabulous jazz
gems.
Steve Arloff
CD Reviews
AVID Jazz AMSC 1038
