Tag Archives: Ben Webster

Ben Webster: Soulville

Leave a comment

In November 1957, “Verve” label released “Soulville”, the sixth Ben Webster album. It was recorded in October 1957, and was produced by Norman Granz.

Personnel:

  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Oscar Peterson – piano
  • Herb Ellis – guitar
  • Ray Brown – bass
  • Stan Levey – drums
  • Nat Hentoff – liner notes
  • Ellie Hughes – design
  • Tom Hughes – design
  • Phil Stern – photography

Track listing:

  1. Soulville – Ben Webster
  2. Late Date – Ben Webster
  3. Time on My Hands – Harold Adamson, Mack Gordon, Vincent Youmans
  4. Lover, Come Back to Me – Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg
  5. Where Are You? – Lew Pollack, Lou Davis
  6. Makin’ Whoopee – Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn
  7. Ill Wind – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler

Harry Edison And His Orchestra: Sweets

Leave a comment

In November 1956, “Clef” label released “Sweets”, album by Harry Edison and His Orchestra (the third Harry Edison album overall). It was recorded in September 1956, is Los Angeles, and was produced by Norman Granz.

Personnel:

  • Harry Edison – trumpet
  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Jimmy Rowles – piano
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Joe Mondragon – bass
  • Alvin Stoller – drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Harry Edison except where noted.

  1. Hollering at the Watkins
  2. Used to Be Basie
  3. How Deep Is the Ocean? – Irving Berlin
  4. Studio Call
  5. Willow Weep for Me – Ann Ronell
  6. Opus 711
  7. Love Is Here to Stay – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
  8. K.M. Blues
  9. Walkin’ with Sweets

Johnny Hodges: Blues A – Plenty

Leave a comment

In May 1958, “Verve” label released “Blues A-Plenty”, the 14th Johnny Hodges album. It was recorded in April 1958, in New York City, and was produced by Norman Granz.

Personnel:

  • Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Roy Eldridge – trumpet
  • Vic Dickenson – trombone
  • Billy Strayhorn – piano
  • Jimmy Woode – bass
  • Sam Woodyard – drums

Track listing:

 All tracks by Johnny Hodges, except where noted.

  1. I Didn’t Know About You – Duke Ellington, Bob Russell
  2. Cool Your Motor
  3. Gone With the Wind – Allie Wrubel, Herb Magidson
  4. Honey Hill
  5. Blues-a-Plenty
  6. Don’t Take Your Love from Me – Henry Nemo
  7. Saturday Afternoon Blues
  8. Satin Doll – Duke Ellington
  9. Reeling and Rocking

Duke Ellington Orchetra: Duke Ellington At Fargo, 1940 Live

Leave a comment

In December 1978, “Book of the Month” label released “Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live”, a live album by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. It was recorded in November 1940, at “Crystal Ballroom” in the “Fargo City Auditorium”, in Fargo, North Dakota, US. In 1980, the album won “Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album”.

Personnel:

  • Duke Ellington – piano
  • Johnny Hodges, Otto Hardwick – alto saxophone
  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Harry Carney – baritone saxophone
  • Barney Bigard – clarinet
  • Rex Stewart – cornet
  • Ray Nance, Wallace Jones – trumpet
  • Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown – trombone
  • Fred Guy – guitar
  • Jimmy Blanton – bass
  • Sonny Greer – drums
  • Ivie Anderson, Herb Jeffries – vocals

Track listing:

  1. The Mooche
  2. Sepia Panorama (theme)
  3. Ko-Ko
  4. There Shall Be No Night
  5. Pussy Willow
  6. Chatterbox
  7. Mood Indigo
  8. Harlem Air Shaft
  9. The Ferryboat Serenade
  10. Warm Valley
  11. Stompy Jones
  12. Bojangles
  13. You Took Advantage of Me
  14. Rumpus in Richmond
  15. The Flaming Sword
  16. Never No Lament
  17. Clarinet Lament
  18. Slap Happy
  19. Sepia Panorama
  20. Boy Meets Horn
  21. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
  22. Oh, Babe! Maybe Someday
  23. Five O’Clock Whistle
  24. Rockin’ in Rhythm
  25. Sophisticated Lady
  26. Cotton Tail
  27. Whispering Grass
  28. Conga Brava
  29. I Never Felt This Way Before
  30. Across the Track Blues
  31. Honeysuckle Rose
  32. Wham
  33. Star Dust
  34. Rose of the Rio Grande
  35. St. Louis Blues

Coleman Hawkins: Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster

Leave a comment

In November 1959, “Verve” label released “Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster”, the 14th Coleman Hawkins album. It was recorded in October 1957, in Los Angeles.

Personnel:

  • Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone
  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Oscar Peterson – piano
  • Herb Ellis – guitar
  • Ray Brown – double bass
  • Alvin Stoller – drums

Track listing:

  1. Blues for Yolande – Coleman Hawkins
  2. It Never Entered My Mind – Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
  3. La Rosita – Paul Dupont, Allan Stuart
  4. You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To – Cole Porter
  5. Prisoner of Love – Russ Columbo, Clarence Gaskill, Leo Robin
  6. Tangerine – Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger
  7. Shine On, Harvest Moon – Jack Norworth, Nora Bayes

Ben Webster And Harry “Sweets” Edison: Wanted to Do One Together

Leave a comment

On September 17, 1962, “Columbia” label released “Wanted to Do One Together” (also released as Ben and “Sweets”),album by Ben Webster and Harry “Sweets” Edison. It was recorded in June 1962, at “Columbia 30th Street Studio” in New York City, and was produced by Mike Berniker.

Personnel:

  • Harry “Sweets” Edison – trumpet
  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Hank Jones – piano
  • George Duvivier – bass
  • Clarence Johnson – drums

Track listing:

  1. Better Go – Ben Webster
  2. How Long Has This Been Going On – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
  3. Kitty – Harry Edison
  4. My Romance – Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
  5. Did You Call Her Today – Ben Webster
  6. Embraceable You – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin

Ben Webster: The Warm Moods

Leave a comment

In February 1961, “Reprise” label released “The Warm Moods”, the twelve Ben Webster album. 

Personnel:

  • Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
  • Donn Trenner – piano
  • Alfred Lustgarten, Lisa Minghetti – violin
  • Cecil Figelski – viola
  • Armond Kaproff – cello
  • Don Bagley – bass
  • Frank Capp – drums
  • Merle Shore – art direction
  • Phil Stern – design

Track listing:

  1. The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi – Bryan Stokes, Dudley Vernor
  2. Stella by Starlight – Ned Washington, Victor Young
  3. With Every Breath I Take – Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin
  4. Accent on Youth – Vee Lawnhurst, Tot Seymour
  5. But Beautiful – Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen
  6. Time After Time – Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne
  7. Nancy (With the Laughing Face) – Van Heusen, Phil Silvers
  8. I’m Beginning to See the Light – Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnny Hodges, Harry James
  9. It Was So Beautiful – Harry Barris, Arthur Freed
  10. The Whiffenpoof Song – Tod Galloway, Meade Minnigerode, George S. Pomeroy
  11. It’s Easy to Remember – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
  12. There’s No You – Tom Adair, Hal Hopper

Johnny Hodges: The Blues

Leave a comment

In October 1956, “Norgran” label released “The Blues”, the fifth Johnny Hodges album. It was recorded July 1952 – September 1953 – July 1954, at “Radio Recorders” in Los Angeles, in San Francisco and New York City, and was produced by Norman Granz.  

Personnel:

  • Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
  • Emmett Berry, Shorty Baker – trumpet
  • Lawrence Brown – trombone
  • Arthur Clarke, John Coltrane, Ben Webster, Rudy Williams – tenor saxophone
  • Ted Brannon, Call Cobbs, Leroy Lovett – piano
  • Ray Brown, Red Callender, Barney Richmond, John Williams – bass
  • Louis Bellson, J. C. Heard, Al Walker – drums
  • Alex De Paola – cover photography
  • Phil Stern – photography
  • Norman Granz – supervision

Track listing:

All tracks by Johnny Hodges, except where noted.

  1. Rosanne – Glenn Osser, Edna Osser, Dick Manning
  2. Hodge-Podge – Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington
  3. Jappa
  4. Through for the Night – Trummy Young
  5. The Sheik of Araby – Ted Snyder, Harry B. Smith, Francis Wheeler
  6. Latino
  7. Johnny’s Blues – Edith Cue Hodges
  8. Indiana – Ballard MacDonald, James F. Hanley
  9. Easy Going Bounce – Leroy Lovett
  10. Burgundy Walk

Junior Mance

Leave a comment

On January 16, 2021, Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. aka Junior Mance died aged 92. He was musician (piano) and composer, one of the main figures of the Hard bop jazz scene. He recorded and performed with some of the biggest names of jazz, blues and soul music including Gene Amons, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Sonny Stitt, Dinah Washington, Wynton Kelly, Cannonball Adderley, Dexter Gordon, Nat Adderley, Joe Gordon, Bennie Green, Al Grey, Ernie Andrews, Johnny Griffin, Art Blakey, Cliford Brown, Benny Carter, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Cleveland, Arnett Cobb, Red Holloway, Jose James, Ray Crawford, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Eddie Jefferson, Aretha Franklin, Etta Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Irene Kral, Jay Leonhart, Les McCann, Paul Gonsalves, Howard McGhee, The Metronomes, Virgil Gonsalves, James Moody, Wild Bill Moore, Barbara Morrison, Sandy Mosse, Leo Parker, Ken Peplowski, Billie Poole, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Alvin Queen, Jimmy Scott, Arnold Sterling, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Frank Vignola, Wilbur Ware, Ben Webster, Joe Williams, Marion Williams, and Leo Wright. As leader, Monce released 56 albums (live and studio). In 2007, Mance and his wife Gloria started their own record label “JunGlo”.

Dinah Washington

Leave a comment

On December 14, 1963, Ruth Lee Jones aka Dinah Washington died aged 39. She was musician (piano) and singer, known as the “the most popular black female recording artist of the ’50s”, and “Queen of the Blues”. Her music was mixture of R&B, and traditional pop, but she was primarily a Jazz singer. She performed and recorded with Fats Waller, Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Cannonball Adderley, Ben Webster, Lionel Hampton, and Nat King Cole. In 1986, Washington was inducted in the “Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame”, and in 1993 was inducted in the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”. In 1959, she won “Grammy Award” for “Best Rhythm & Blues Performance”. As a leader Washington released 17 albums.