Ben Webster @ the Ranaissance

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

OK OK THIS **DOES QUALIFY** I.M>H>O as "west coast jazz", or at least "jazz west coast".

Now i just learned of a cd the otehr day i saw: "harold land in NY" feat. k. dorham-- now i DONT consider that cd west coast jazz at all cause h.l. sold out and went to Nyc. or maybe i should look at it as him bring west coast jazz to nyc, i dont know or care my Q is about B.W here. is this a must have. was gonna get lp until i saw theres DOUBLE the tracks on the cd issue!!! well how do u pin it say, against that other 60s live date i have of his, yuou know, the 1962 one w/ the MJQ. i have no info for that other than its w/ mJQ in 62. i ACTUALLY think it MIIIGHT be rec. at the same spot

[brownie]

chewy, that Webster/MJQ session was taped during a Birdland show in February 1953.

[JSngry]

The Webster/Hall/Rowles date is mighty fine, whatever coast you want to pin it on. It is nice and mellow, though, so if that's a qaulity you think of as WC, hey, WC it.

[Peter Friedman]

Ben Webster is not what one would usually think of as a West Coast saxophone player. Benny Carter lived on the West Coast for a long time, but he is not thought of as a West Coast musician either.

The key thing here is that the Ben Webster recording is a damn fine one so don't hesitate in getting a copy

[mikeweil]

Yes, Webster and Rowles was a great match!

[felser]

Yes, Webster and Rowles was a great match!

I agree. Webster was my favorite sax player of pre-bop lineage, and this is one of his greatest later works. Not to be missed if you like Webster. But not a WC album, rather a Ben Webster album. The Land is a run of the mill (not bad in any way, but doesn't stand out) East Coast bop album, with a strangely anonymous rhythm section. Fine for fans of the genre (like me), but not a starting point or necessity in any way. Land wasn't really a "West Coast" style player anyways, given his time with Roach/Brown.