I've Never Heard Benny Waters.

[JSngry]

What's the deal?

[Dan Gould]

I had, and ultimately disposed of, his 95th birthday party disc:

It was nice and all, but at some point in a previous sweep for deadwood, I decided to trade it in.

Of course, being a saxophonist, you'd probably pick up on a whole lot more than I did ... too bad I can't just send it to you so you'd know.

[kh1958]

I don't have any of his records, but I did see him at Sweet Basil [six or seven] years back. He was at least 90 at the time (I believe he has since died). He was a nice, swinging alto player, with a style staight out of the 1920s-30s.

Edited November 29, 2004 by kh1958

[brownie]

Benny Waters died in 1998. He was 96 by then.

And spent many years in Paris where he was playing very often at the Cigale cafe in the Pigalle district. He indeed was a very nice man and a swinging musician. Can't recall an album that was a good representation of his musical talent but I have not heard them all...

[jazzbo]

I've some of his stuff from earlier decades than the final one. Nice stuff, traditional, not ground breaking, fun. Not sure you NEEDS ta Jim, but you might dig his playing.

[Chuck Nessa]

He also played tenor, soprano and clarinet. I first became aware of him from his charts for the Charlie Johnson band.

I remember Roscoe Mitchell speaking fondly of him after meeting him iin Paris.

[JSngry]

Thanks to all.

What I'm hearing is that I should probably check him out, if for no other reason than that he was a real player. Works for me!

So, what's a good one to have if I'm only going to have one (which I may or may not, but in case I do, I'd like it to be the "right one")?

[paul secor]

I only have two Benny Waters recordings in my collection - From Paradise (Small's) to Shangrila (Muse) and Hurry On Down (Storyville). I like the Storyville a bit better - his playing seems to flow a bit easier - though he's in more spirited form on the Muse (recorded by RVG, by the way).

Can't claim to be a Benny Waters expert from these two recordings, but I thought I'd offer what opinions I could offer.

Incidentally, to my ears, "No Problem" on the Muse album seems to be a Duke Jordan tune - not a Benny Waters composition, as Phil Schaap's liner notes and the composer credit on the label claim.

When I heard Claude Williams play live in (I believe) 1997, I talked with his manager, who mentioned that one of his other clients happened to be Benny Waters. He no doubt managed the two oldest performing jazz artists at that time.