Album Reviews

The concert promoter, tour organizer, record label owner Norman Granz had a knack for assembling groups that produced successful sessions like this. Benny Green's somewhat defensive annotation tells you the story: Webster had been popular during the big band "swing" era as a member of Duke Ellington's band as its first star tenor saxophonist. He was one of the "big three," the others being Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

The concert promoter, tour organizer, record label owner Norman Granz had a knack for assembling groups that produced successful sessions like this. Benny Green's somewhat defensive annotation tells you the story: Webster had been popular during the big band "swing" era as a member of Duke Ellington's band as its first star tenor saxophonist. He was one of the "big three," the others being Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

He left Ellington in 1943 and played with a number of other big bands and jazz ensembles, some of which featured blues singers. He worked the midtown New York jazz clubs. In the '50s he began working with Oscar Peterson and Norman Granz used him on numerous recordings.

But by 1957 at the age of 48, his earthy, blues-based style had given way to more modern jazz. Yet Granz felt that by putting him in a smaller group setting like this, Webster could find new popularity. That obviously worked, because today Webster's earthy, big sound is a favorite of classic jazz lovers.

For this session or sessions (the credits are terribly incomplete) Granz backs Webster with tenor saxophonist Harold Ashby, trumpeter Art Farmer, guitarist Mudell Lowe, and the rhythm section of pianist Jimmy Jones, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Dave Bailey.

The tunes range from fast-paced bop like "Ev's Mad" where everyone gets some space, to slow ballads like "When I Fall in Love," in which we get Webster's big, earthy, wet, vibrato rich tone. It's the vibe today's generation of classic jazz lovers dig. Webster is big in the left channel, in front of Lowe's soft comping that gently floats the entire boat with just a touch of Bailey's cymbals, Hinton's bowed then plucked bass is on the right along with Jones's piano and the result is "break out the single malt" relaxation. 

The playing is uniformly fine, particularly Art Farmer's crisply executed trumpet solos and those of Harold Ashby, though his tone and style could be similar enough to Webster's it's difficult to sometimes know who's playing when.

Aside from the aforementioned ballad and Billy Strayhorn's gorgeous "Chelsea Bridge," which is one of the set's highlights, the tunes are all Webster originals. 

Though there are no credits, the recording has Van Gelder's signature: wide left/right spread (though Webster is centered on "Chelsea Bridge"), big reverb that can open the center stage to space but not images, and a boxy sounding piano that sounds more like the '40s than '50s.

The overall sonic signature is slightly on the bright side but with excellent transient articulation, particularly of cymbals and guitar  (that's true of both the Speakers Corner 33 and Analogue Productions 45s).

Not surprisingly, the 45s do sound more spacious, relaxed, transparent and dynamic. It was also cut from the original master tape, while I suspect Speakers Corner worked off of a flat 1:1 transfer. They are both very good. The question is, is it worth spending the extra $15.00 for the double set? I can't answer that for you (but I would!).