Ben Webster

Ben Webster
Background information
Birth name Benjamin Francis Webster
Born (1909-03-27)March 27, 1909
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Died September 20, 1973(1973-09-20) (aged 64)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Tenor saxophone
Associated acts Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Oscar Peterson

Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he is considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Known affectionately as "The Brute"[1] or "Frog", he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment. He was indebted to alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who, he said, taught him to play his instrument.

Early life and career

Webster learned to play piano and violin at an early age before taking up the saxophone,[2] although he did return to the piano from time to time, even recording on the instrument occasionally.[3] Once Budd Johnson showed him some basics on the saxophone, Webster began to play that instrument in the Young Family Band (which at the time included Lester Young).[4] Kansas City at this point was a melting pot from which emerged some of the biggest names in 1930s jazz.[5] Webster joined Bennie Moten's band in 1932, a grouping which also included Count Basie, Oran "Hot Lips" Page and Walter Page.[6] This era was recreated in Robert Altman's film Kansas City.[7]

Webster spent time with quite a few orchestras in the 1930s, including Andy Kirk, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1934, then Benny Carter, Willie Bryant, Cab Calloway, and the short-lived Teddy Wilson big band.[8]

With Ellington

Ben Webster played with Duke Ellington's orchestra for the first time in 1935, and by 1940 was performing with it full-time as the band's first major tenor soloist.[8] He credited Johnny Hodges, Ellington's alto soloist, as a major influence on his playing.[9] During the next three years, he played on many recordings, including "Cotton Tail" and "All Too Soon";[8] his contributions (together with that of bassist Jimmy Blanton) were so important that Ellington's orchestra during that period is known as the Blanton–Webster band. [10] Webster left the band in 1943 after an angry altercation during which he allegedly cut up one of Ellington's suits.[11] Another version of Webster's leaving Ellington came from Clark Terry, a longtime Ellington player, who said that, in a dispute, Webster slapped Ellington, upon which the latter gave him two weeks notice. [12]


After Ellington

"Portrait of Ben Webster, Famous Door, New York, N.Y., ca. Oct. 1947".

After leaving Ellington in 1943, Webster worked on 52nd Street in New York City, where he recorded frequently as both a leader and a sideman.[13] During this time he had short periods with Raymond Scott, John Kirby, Bill DeArango, and Sid Catlett, as well as with Jay McShann's band, which also featured blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. For a few months in 1948, he returned briefly to Ellington's orchestra.

In 1953, he recorded King of the Tenors with pianist Oscar Peterson, who would be an important collaborator with Webster throughout the decade in his recordings for the various labels of Norman Granz. Along with Peterson, trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison and others, he was touring and recording with Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package. In 1956, he recorded a classic set with pianist Art Tatum, supported by bassist Red Callender and drummer Bill Douglass. Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was recorded on December 16, 1957, along with Peterson, Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). The Hawkins and Webster recording is a jazz classic, the coming together of two giants of the tenor saxophone, who had first met back in Kansas City.

In the late 1950s, he formed a quintet with Gerry Mulligan and played frequently at a Los Angeles club called Renaissance. It was there that the Webster-Mulligan group backed up blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon on an album recorded live for Hi-Fi Jazz Records.[14] That same year, 1959, the quintet, with pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis, also recorded "Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster" for Verve Records (MG V-8343).[15]

In Europe

Webster generally worked steadily, but in 1965 he moved permanently to Europe, working with other American jazz musicians based there as well as local musicians. He played when he pleased during his last decade. He lived in London for one year, followed by four years in Amsterdam and made his last home in Copenhagen in 1969. Webster appeared as a sax player in a low-rent cabaret club in the 1970 Danish blue film titled Quiet Days in Clichy. In 1971, Webster reunited with Duke Ellington and his orchestra for a couple of shows at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen; in addition, he also recorded "live" in France with Earl Hines.[16] He also recorded or performed with Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman and Teddy Wilson.

Webster suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in Amsterdam in September 1973, following a performance at the Twee Spieghels in Leiden, and died on 20 September. His body was cremated in Copenhagen and his ashes were buried in the Assistens Cemetery in the Nørrebro section of the city.

Legacy

After Webster's death, Billy Moore Jr., together with the trustee of Webster's estate, created the Ben Webster Foundation www.benwebster.dk. Since Webster's only legal heir, Harley Robinson of Los Angeles, gladly assigned his rights to the foundation, the Ben Webster Foundation was confirmed by the Queen of Denmark's Seal in 1976. In the Foundation's trust deed, one of the initial paragraphs reads: "to support the dissemination of jazz in Denmark". The trust is a beneficial foundation which channels Webster's annual royalties to musicians in both Denmark and the U.S. An annual Ben Webster Prize is awarded to a young outstanding musician. The prize is not large, but is considered highly prestigious. Over the years, several American musicians have visited Denmark with the help of the Foundation, and concerts, a few recordings, and other jazz-related events have been supported.

Webster's private collection of jazz recordings and memorabilia is archived in the jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark, Odense.

Ben Webster has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ben Websters Vej".

Discography

As leader

As a sideman

With Count Basie

With Buddy Bregman

With Benny Carter

With Harry Edison

With Duke Ellington

With Dizzy Gillespie

With Lionel Hampton

With Coleman Hawkins

With Woody Herman

With Johnny Hodges

With Richard "Groove" Holmes

With Illinois Jacquet

With Barney Kessel

With Mundell Lowe

With Les McCann

With Carmen McRae

With Oliver Nelson

With Buddy Rich

With Art Tatum

With Clark Terry

With Joe Williams

References

  1. ↑ liner notes by Billy James taken from the 1962 recording Ben and "Sweets" CBS 460613
  2. ↑ "Ben Webster". Biography.com. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  3. ↑ "Soulville - Ben Webster Quintet,Ben Webster | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  4. ↑ The Rough Guide to Jazz. Rough Guides. 2004. ISBN 9781843532569.
  5. ↑ "Kansas City style | music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  6. ↑ Lee, William F. (2005). American Big Bands. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780634080548.
  7. ↑ Danks, Adrian (2015-06-22). A Companion to Robert Altman. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118288900.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ben Webster | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  9. ↑ Chilton, John (1996-03-22). Sidney Bechet. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306806789.
  10. ↑ "The Blanton-Webster Band - Duke Ellington | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  11. ↑ "That Eric Alper! - October 14, 2011". www.jazz.fm. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  12. ↑ Zan Stewart interview with Clark Terry, Aug. 2003 for article in Newark Star-Ledger, Sept. 28, 2003, "The Elder Statesman of Swing."
  13. ↑ Dicaire, David (2003-08-12). Jazz Musicians of the Early Years, to 1945. McFarland. ISBN 9780786485567.
  14. ↑ Bob Porter, "Portraits in Blue," broadcast August 2, 2014 on WBGO radio.
  15. ↑ Michael Ruppli, "The Complete Norgran, Clef and Verve Recordings, Vol. 2.(Greenwood Press)
  16. ↑ LP issued as Hines's Tune in France with Don Byas, Roy Eldridge, Stuff Smith, Kenny Clarke and Jimmy Woode.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.