Ben Webster, sheet music in the #smlpdf

Ben Webster

Benjamin Francis Webster, known in the world of jazz as Ben Webster, and nicknamed “The Frog”, for his bulging eyes, (Kansas City, March 27, 1909-Amsterdam, September 20, 1973), was born in the very jazzy city of Kansas City, birthplace of magnificent saxophonists, among them the great Charlie Parker. It was March 27, 1909 and his musical career began to take center stage on the sax string of maestro Duke Ellington’s orchestra, during the days of the Cotton Club in Harlem. The “Duke” composed, grateful to his saxophonist, an emblematic song that accompanied Ben Webster throughout his career. We are talking about “In a Mellotone”, a piece tailored to our musician and that would accompany him throughout his career.

Ben Webster studied several instruments: first violin, then piano and clarinet. His first job was precisely that of a pianist in a silent movie theater in Texas. He acquired his love for the sax from Bud Johnson, the famous saxophonist from Dallas.

He played alto sax in well-known orchestras such as that of WH Young, father of the great Lester Young, where he spent three months. In 1931 he worked accompanying the singer, Blanche Calloway, sister of the famous conductor, Cab Calloway, and from the end of that year until the beginning of 1933, he was part of one of the best orchestras in the Midwest, that of Bennie Moten, whose pianist was, at that time, the maestro, Count Basie. After his fruitful experience with Moten, Ben Webster began to be requested by the best-known big bands, and so in 1933, Andy Kirk called him to lead his saxophone section, then it was Fletcher Henderson who noticed him, and In 1934, he worked with Benny Carter. In each of them, Ben Webster’s presence coincided with the period of greatest splendor of that orchestra.

After his time at Benny Carter’s lectern, he played for more than a year with the Cab Calloway orchestra, with whom he recorded sixteen songs between the spring of 1936 and the summer of 1937. The second half of the 1930s was in that sense, a period where Ben Webster made his own place in the American jazz scene and managed to be one of the great tenor saxophones of the moment. His last job in that decade was playing in Teddy Wilson’s group, where he accompanied the singer, Billie Holiday, on more than one recording.

The great moment of his life came in 1940 when he joined the historic Duke Ellington orchestra. His entry coincided in time with the addition of the bassist, Jimmy Blanton. Between 1940 and 1943, one of the great moments of the Ellington orchestra, Webster was an undisputed pillar in the sax section, without a doubt the best in the entire history of jazz, along with Johnny Hodges, or Russell Procope. Songs like “Satín Doll” and especially “In a Mellowtone” were written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, for the greater glory of their tenor saxophonist.

When the decline of the Big Bands began after World War II, many musicians had to more or less find their place in jazz music as soloists, either by forming their own more or less stable group or as a sideman accompanying others. other musicians. The disintegration of the great swing orchestras suited our protagonist and he achieved solo successes that were somehow camouflaged within Ellington’s orchestra.

Ben Webster’s pilgrimage when he left the Ellington Orchestra in 1943 began with Sidney Catlett’s group in early 1944, Joh Kirby (July 1944); Stuff Smith (1945) and with Henry “Red” Allen from November 1948 to September 1949. From then on, producer Norman Granz freed him from his financial problems when he embarked on the adventure of “Jazz at the Philharmonic.” » where he remained linked until 1959. Having become a globetrotter, in 1964 he emigrated to Europe, settling first in Copenhagen and then in Holland, until 1969 permanently anchored in the Danish capital. In 1973, while performing in the Dutch city of Leyda, he suffered a heart attack that ended his life in an Amsterdam hospital.

Ben Webster is part, along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, of the triad of the great tenor saxophonists in the history of jazz.

The Ben Webster Quintet – Soulville (1957)

0:00:02 S̲o̲u̲l̲v̲i̲l̲l̲e̲ ̲ 0:08:05 L̲a̲t̲e̲ ̲D̲a̲t̲e̲ 0:15:20 T̲i̲m̲e̲ ̲O̲n̲ ̲M̲y̲ ̲H̲a̲n̲d̲s̲ ̲ 0:19:38 L̲o̲v̲e̲r̲ ̲C̲o̲m̲e̲ ̲B̲a̲c̲k̲ ̲T̲o̲ ̲M̲e̲ 0:28:06 W̲h̲e̲r̲e̲ ̲A̲r̲e̲ ̲Y̲o̲u̲ ̲ 0:32:49 M̲a̲k̲i̲n̲’̲ ̲W̲h̲o̲o̲p̲e̲e̲ 0:37:20 ̲I̲l̲l̲ ̲W̲i̲n̲d̲

A true masterpiece, this album by the Ben Webster quintet. With Oscar Peterson on piano – masterful – playing on ‘Love Come Back to Me’, Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar and Stan Levey on drums, they make a complete album, a five star from the prestigious Down Beat magazine in 1954. Essential.