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This is one (though the Penguin Guide is lukewarm about -- whatevuh) is nice. (Attached below. Dig the original cover!)

Could anyone direct me to a decent cover scan of Ben Webster and Associates? I hate how Verve miniaturized (and put a meaningless border around) the cover of the VME disc.

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

Is the Storyville the same as the Spotlite lp?

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

Whoa — that one wasn't even on my radar. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Also, John Tapscott's recommendation: that one looks good too. Discs on Storyville seem more readily available in Europe, I'm guessing? I never see them locally at least, but haven't scoured all the online options.

March 21st is BEN WEBSTER day. In preparation, I watched the wonderful documentary entitled The Brute and The Beautiful. Rhapsody put it out on VHS way back in 1989. It's one of the best jazz documentaries I've ever seen. Anyone else here seen it? Some of the footage, particularly a live set with Benny Carter circa 1970, is stunning. No Webster fan — even if you have to give up buying a few CDs — should be without this show. It's that good.

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Is 21 March his birthday?

MG

Oops — thanks for the catch. I meant March 27th! Webster's dates are:

Born: March 27, 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri

Died: September 20, 1973 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Ben would have been 98. Let's all celebrate on Big Ben's day by spinning our favorite Webster LP/CD!

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

Is the Storyville the same as the Spotlite lp?

Chuck, the answer is yes. In fact the booklet notes for the Storyville CD include the original notes that appeared on the Steeplechase LP.

The CD also has some additional tracks that are untitled. They are a mystery. The tape marked "Faberge" was found in Ben's position. It is thought to be of early European vintage based upon Webster's tone. The rhythm section were not identified.

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

Is the Storyville the same as the Spotlite lp?

Chuck, the answer is yes. In fact the booklet notes for the Storyville CD include the original notes that appeared on the Steeplechase LP.

The CD also has some additional tracks that are untitled. They are a mystery. The tape marked "Faberge" was found in Ben's position. It is thought to be of early European vintage based upon Webster's tone. The rhythm section were not identified.

SteepleChase is not Spotlite or Storyville. :)

Good to hear more music was found in "Ben's position". Which position was that? :lol:

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This live recording is yet another another nice late period album:

Ben Webster - Live at the Haarlemse Jazzclub

Date: May 9, 1972

Location: Haarlemse Jazz Club, Haarlem, Netherlands

Ben Webster (ldr), Ben Webster (ts), Tete Montoliu (p), Rob Langereis (b), Tony Inzalaco (d)

Originally released on vynil by Cat label (Cat LP-11) , it was first reissued on CD by Cat (Cat CD 1104), adding a nine minutes version of "Perdido". It has also been reissued on CD by Limetree (MCD 040) [see cover]

Edited by EKE BBB
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And if you ever put your hands on this very rare LP (never reissued on CD), don't miss it! Highly recommended:

Ben Webster In Hot House

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: May 10, 1972

Location: Jazzzolder Hot House, Leiden, Netherlands

Label: Hot House

Ben Webster (ldr), Ben Webster (ts), Tete Montoliu (p), Rob Langereis (b), Eric Ineke (d)

a. a-01 Ben's Blues - 08:20 (Ben Webster)

b. a-02 Love Is Here To Stay - 13:28 (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

c. b-01 I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) - 09:48 (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster)

d. b-02 Set Call - 10:08 (Ben Webster)

All titles on: - Hot House LP 12": HH 001 - Ben Webster In Hot House (1979)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(will post the cover later, I don't have it handy)

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... and here I thought that the only set Montoliu made with Webster was Gentle Ben. :wacko:

By the way — this might be of significance to U.S. posters here — The Holland Sessions can be purchased from a place out of Tacoma, WA called Dandylion Records. They had the title up at eBay, but are/were also selling it directly from their website.

(Still looking for the & Associates cover. -_- )

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... and here I thought that the only set Montoliu made with Webster was Gentle Ben. :wacko:

There's yet another disc with Ben Webster and Tete Montoliu playing side by side: it's a Musica Jazz LP called just "Ben Webster" (2MJP 1068). This LP includes three tracks from a gig in Karlsruhe which was broadcast on SWF Jazz Session program, probably from the night before the "Ben Webster meets Don Byas" was cut in Villingen, with that same line-up (Webster, Byas, Montoliu, Trunk, Heath).

These three tracks are a fifteen-minutes "Perdido", "Stardust" (omit Don Byas) and "Darn that dream" (omit Ben Webster).

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... and here I thought that the only set Montoliu made with Webster was Gentle Ben. :wacko:

There's yet another disc with Ben Webster and Tete Montoliu playing side by side: it's a Musica Jazz LP called just "Ben Webster" (2MJP 1068). This LP includes three tracks from a gig in Karlsruhe which was broadcast on SWF Jazz Session program, probably from the night before the "Ben Webster meets Don Byas" was cut in Villingen, with that same line-up (Webster, Byas, Montoliu, Trunk, Heath).

These three tracks are a fifteen-minutes "Perdido", "Stardust" (omit Don Byas) and "Darn that dream" (omit Ben Webster).

Unfortunately, our Musica Jazz LP included only one track from the Karlsruhe gig, the quartet version of "Stardust". The other unissued track from that LP was"Cotton Tail" (London, February 28, 1965, w/ Stan Tracey, Rick Laird and Jackie Dougan).

If your're interested, EKE, I have a spare copy in our archives.

Luca

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There's yet another disc with Ben Webster and Tete Montoliu playing side by side: it's a Musica Jazz LP called just "Ben Webster" (2MJP 1068). This LP includes three tracks from a gig in Karlsruhe which was broadcast on SWF Jazz Session program, probably from the night before the "Ben Webster meets Don Byas" was cut in Villingen, with that same line-up (Webster, Byas, Montoliu, Trunk, Heath).

These three tracks are a fifteen-minutes "Perdido", "Stardust" (omit Don Byas) and "Darn that dream" (omit Ben Webster).

Unfortunately, our Musica Jazz LP included only one track from the Karlsruhe gig, the quartet version of "Stardust". The other unissued track from that LP was"Cotton Tail" (London, February 28, 1965, w/ Stan Tracey, Rick Laird and Jackie Dougan).

If your're interested, EKE, I have a spare copy in our archives.

Luca

So the three tracks from that gig that I have (on a CD with diverse and rare Tete Montoliu material), were recorded directly from the radio broadcast and not dubbed from the Musica Jazz LP, as I had assumed. That's a really interesting discovery for me, Luca, as I have been discussing this gig with Heinz Baumeister, who has compiled a Ben Webster discography (available at

http://www.benwebster.dk/discography.php ) and we did agree on this session (we probably share the same sources).

I'll PM you on this issue (or rather we can use email --> here's mine: ekebbbapg@yahoo.es )

Regards,

Agustín

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I have been enjoying some fine Webster going through the new box from Storyville, "The Duke Box."

This morning, listening over coffee, I was thinking there is a little taste here of what Pres would have been like in that forties Ellington band. I heard a little bit of aspects of Pres in some of the Webster there. Or I might just not have been awake enough!

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This morning, listening over coffee, I was thinking there is a little taste here of what Pres would have been like in that forties Ellington band. I heard a little bit of aspects of Pres in some of the Webster there. Or I might just not have been awake enough!

Lon, you have to rent/buy/find the documentary The Brute and The Beautiful! In it, Webster's cousin discusses how Lee and Lester Young — back in 1929 — took Webster under their collective wing for a while. Webster himself, in fact, credits his first saxophone "lessons" to Pres! (Long before he was dubbed Pres, of course.)

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So the three tracks from that gig that I have (on a CD with diverse and rare Tete Montoliu material), were recorded directly from the radio broadcast and not dubbed from the Musica Jazz LP, as I had assumed. That's a really interesting discovery for me, Luca, as I have been discussing this gig with Heinz Baumeister, who has compiled a Ben Webster discography (available at

http://www.benwebster.dk/discography.php ) and we did agree on this session (we probably share the same sources).

The Webster LP we issued then (in 1989) had been compiled by Raffaele Borretti, a well-known collector who also owned the FDC label. As far as I know, he had the three tracks from the Karlsruhe radio broadcast, but the other two were too long for inclusion on the Musica Jazz LP.

luca

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This morning, listening over coffee, I was thinking there is a little taste here of what Pres would have been like in that forties Ellington band. I heard a little bit of aspects of Pres in some of the Webster there. Or I might just not have been awake enough!

Lon, you have to rent/buy/find the documentary The Brute and The Beautiful! In it, Webster's cousin discusses how Lee and Lester Young — back in 1929 — took Webster under their collective wing for a while. Webster himself, in fact, credits his first saxophone "lessons" to Pres! (Long before he was dubbed Pres, of course.)

Ah, I have seen that one, years ago.

And I've read about the Brute's musical upbringing in the most recent Pres biography (which I really like, though others don't seem to). . . .

I just never really hear a lot of Pres in Webster BUT in these live big band Ellington appearances I start to hear some little Presian magic, reminds me in places of Pres in front of the tail end of the Old Testament Basie. . . .

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This one is a bit different. Not sure It would qualify as Ben's "best after 1966", but it is sure interesting. It has Ben in a rehearsal setting. We hear him talk to the other musicians quite a bit and it gets rather dramatic at times. It was recorded in October 1970.

Ben Webster - No Fool, No Fun - Storyville

Is the Storyville the same as the Spotlite lp?

Chuck, the answer is yes. In fact the booklet notes for the Storyville CD include the original notes that appeared on the Steeplechase LP.

The CD also has some additional tracks that are untitled. They are a mystery. The tape marked "Faberge" was found in Ben's position. It is thought to be of early European vintage based upon Webster's tone. The rhythm section were not identified.

SteepleChase is not Spotlite or Storyville. :)

Good to hear more music was found in "Ben's position". Which position was that? :lol:

Sorry for 2 errors in one post!

It should have been Spotlite not Steeplechase,and possession not position.

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Wherever you are, whatever you're doing today, don't forget to spin some BEN WEBSTER!

Today is Ben's birthday! He would have been 98.

:party:

I took my copies of Soulville and Meets Oscar Peterson, burned them onto one CDR, and have already played that disc three times today!

Later, I'll play See You At the Fair, possibly my favorite Brute record in my collection.

Let's hear it for Ben!

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