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Ben Webster


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BTW: Today (March 28) is Tete Montoliu's birthday.

Yes! He would have been 74 today. This is a very commemorative TM year: on August 24, it will be ten years since he passed. Most Spanish jazz festivals will be in his memory this year.

BTW: as a small tribute to this wonderful pianist, I have started the project to improve and expand my TM sessionography hosted at Michael Fitzgerald's Jazz Discography website into a full chronology/gigography. In some weeks, a major update to the discography will be uploaded.

Tete Montoliu Discography

Regards,

Agustín

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  • 1 year later...

I like Meets Oscar Peterson more and more as time goes by.

I'm not an O.P. fan, but I agree with you there. Oscar doesn't get in the way of Ben on this record. Beautiful playing all around. Many :tup s.

I tend to agree, and find it amusing that Peterson seems to get accolades simply for "not getting in the way" of the soloist. I've often said such things myself when I happened to like an Oscar Peterson sideman appearance. :)

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What are those "Holland Sessions" and why did they come out on BN?

Late, you might want to look for a vinyl copy of "At Work in Europe" - it was a Prestige two-fer put out in the 70s or early 80s. One LP is with long-time partner Kenny Drew but has the added interest of a second pianist, Frans Weiringa, which I would not have expected Ben to employ, and the setlist is a bit different from his usual, with tunes like The Preacher, Straight No Chaser, and Work Song. Second set is actually the For the Guv'nor recording. First set only issued in Europe as Blow Ben Blow.

During my two times briefly living in Den Haag I kept hearing about a pianist who worked with Ben and others, Cess Slinger. Couldn't track him down. Finally I heard a live recording of Ben's---I have no clue which---with Cess backing Ben, and he was unique.

I didn't read the entire thread, but put my vote in too for "Soulmates", with Joe Zawinul (and Thad on some things). Wonderful.

Edited by fasstrack
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  • 1 year later...

Listening to Did You Call? right now — not the original Nessa LP, but the Ensayo CD (the only version I could find).

Is this the original track order? (I'm guessing the CD adds tracks?)

1. Ben's Blues

2. The Man I Love

3. My Nephew Bent

4. How Long Has This Been Going On?

5. Sweet Georgia Brown

6. Don't Blame Me

7. Did You Call?

8. Barcelona Shot

Ben's 101st birthday is coming up soon! Have there been any new Ben reissues lately? I finally found the issue on Cat (Live at the Haarlemse Club)!

Spun the attached earlier tonight. Beautiful.

post-282-126914368538_thumb.jpg

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Listening to Did You Call? right now — not the original Nessa LP, but the Ensayo CD (the only version I could find).

Is this the original track order? (I'm guessing the CD adds tracks?)

1. Ben's Blues

2. The Man I Love

3. My Nephew Bent

4. How Long Has This Been Going On?

5. Sweet Georgia Brown

6. Don't Blame Me

7. Did You Call?

8. Barcelona Shot

Ben's 101st birthday is coming up soon! Have there been any new Ben reissues lately? I finally found the issue on Cat (Live at the Haarlemse Club)!

Spun the attached earlier tonight. Beautiful.

That is the original Ensayo track order - 4 tunes per side of the lp. When I issued Did You Call? I reversed the sides (on purpose) and opened with Sweet Georgia Brown. I thought that worked better.

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Listening to Did You Call? right now — not the original Nessa LP, but the Ensayo CD (the only version I could find).

Is this the original track order? (I'm guessing the CD adds tracks?)

1. Ben's Blues

2. The Man I Love

3. My Nephew Bent

4. How Long Has This Been Going On?

5. Sweet Georgia Brown

6. Don't Blame Me

7. Did You Call?

8. Barcelona Shot

Ben's 101st birthday is coming up soon! Have there been any new Ben reissues lately? I finally found the issue on Cat (Live at the Haarlemse Club)!

Spun the attached earlier tonight. Beautiful.

That is the original Ensayo track order - 4 tunes per side of the lp. When I issued Did You Call? I reversed the sides (on purpose) and opened with Sweet Georgia Brown. I thought that worked better.

Cool. Now I can re-program and hear the "Nessa order."

Another Ben Webster recording I like a lot is:

Ben Webster At The Renaissance - Contemporary

with Jimmy Rowles, Jim Hall, Red Mitchell and Frank Butler.

Don't recall it being mentioned in this thread.

Excellent live recording. A :tup .

I finally found the issue on Cat (Live at the Haarlemse Club)!

post-282-126923022832_thumb.jpg

post-282-1269230442_thumb.jpg

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A heads-up for Ben fans — the complete No Fool, No Fun sessions are available for download at Amazon for $7.99. Here. These are the rehearsal tapes (with master takes included) which I normally wouldn't be too excited about, but — in this particular case — the music and studio chatter is actually pretty engaging. Ben is in good form (both musically and comedically), the music swings, and listening to what actually went down in the studio gives a fair amount of perspective. Ben cracks the band up a number of times. Check it out!

Original cover.

post-282-12692974602_thumb.jpg

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A heads-up for Ben fans — the complete No Fool, No Fun sessions are available for download at Amazon for $7.99. Here. These are the rehearsal tapes (with master takes included) which I normally wouldn't be too excited about, but — in this particular case — the music and studio chatter is actually pretty engaging. Ben is in good form (both musically and comedically), the music swings, and listening to what actually went down in the studio gives a fair amount of perspective. Ben cracks the band up a number of times. Check it out!

Original cover.

Very cool. Thanks for the heads up! :tup

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There is one... Rhapsody Films did one a long time ago. I think I've got the VHS ( :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :unsure: :unsure: :unsure: ) in my basement...

i am listening to some ben webster this am - what a great way to start the day!!!!

:excited:

510PZ0V441L._SS500_.jpg

i sure wish someone would put his documentary on DVD

I believe that this DVD is the same as the Rhapsody VHS: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6787831&style=movie

Plus you get a Sonny Rollins added to it.

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  • 3 years later...

What the heck?

Allmusic says this is a 2003 release, and offers no details, and Amazon doesn't even recognize the title. Who is Ben playing with and when, and is this a BN release of stuff that's been out on LP way back when or is it "new"?

Color me intrigued, pending more info ...

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It's a great one!

from my list:

CD 1: Ben Webster At Ease (1969 - Frans Wieringa, Gerard Holdgrefe, Tom van Steenderen) + For the Guv'nor (1969 - Cees Slinger, Jacques Schols, John Engels)
CD 2: Last Concert (live 1973 - Irv Rocklin, Henk Haverhoek, Peter Ypma)

rhythm sections aren't always up to Ben's standard, and the sound on the live disc is muddy, but ... I love late Ben!

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