Art Tatum & Ben Webster Quartet

by Art Tatum, Ben Webster, The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet

Overview

The only album-length collaboration between pianist Art Tatum and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster (accompanied by a rhythm section of Red Callender, bass, and Bill Douglass, drums) was this September 11, 1956, session under the auspices of Norman Granz's Verve Records label. (It was also Tatum's last recording session before his death.) Granz probably suggested the repertoire of standards by the likes of Kern and Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, and Cole Porter, but the melodies, of course, only provide a framework. On each track, Tatum leads things off, with Callender and Douglass coming in discreetly (and low in the mix). Then, at a certain point, Webster appears in the foreground, playing comparatively few notes and sticking much more to the melody than his partner. This is a good approach, since Tatum never subsides to simple comping; he just keeps soloing away under Webster's rich tenor tones until Webster stops playing, and then keeps on to the end. So, although this is billed as a group effort, it's not a group of equals or really one in which the players are cooperating with each other. Tatum might as well be playing solo, since he takes very little account of what's happening around him. Granz makes it work by varying the volume of the different instruments in the mix, and the result is a fascinating study in contrasts. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	05/21/2021
Label:	20Th Century Jazz Masters / 20Th Century Masterworks
UPC:	8436563183430
Rank:	35849

Tracks

1. All the Things You Are
2. My One and Only Love
3. My Ideal
4. I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
5. Gone With the Wind
6. Have You Met Miss Jones?
7. Night and Day
8. Where or When
9. In a Sentimental Mood

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Art Tatum   Primary Artist,Piano,Soloist
Ben Webster   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor)
The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet   Primary Artist
Bill Douglass   Drums
Red Callender   Bass

Technical Credits

Jerome Kern   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Count Basie   Liner Notes
Lorenz Hart   Composer
Robert Mellin   Composer
Richard A. Whiting   Composer
Newell Chase   Composer
Guy Wood   Composer
Allie Wrubel   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Leo Robin   Composer
Herbert Magidson   Composer
Charles Boldt   Liner Notes