Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Benjamin Francis Webster was born on March 27, 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri and learned to play piano and violin at an early age, before learning to play the saxophone, although he did return to the piano from time to time, even recording on the instrument occasionally. But it was Budd Johnson who showed him some basics on the saxophone. Webster began to play that instrument in the Young Family Band that at the time included Lester Young.
Kansas City at this point was a melting pot from which emerged some of the biggest names in 1930s jazz and Webster spent time with the Andy Kirk orchestra, joined Bennie Moten’s legendary 1932 band that included Count Basie, Oran Page and Walter Page, Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra, then Benny Carter, Willie Bryant, Cab Calloway and the Teddy Wilson orchestras.
Also known as “The Brute” or “Frog”, Ben was an influential jazz tenor saxophonist who had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with his own distinctive growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment. Stylistically he was indebted to alto star Johnny Hodges, who, he said, taught him to play his instrument.
By the mid thirties he was playing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra as the featured tenor on recordings of Cotton Tail and All Too Soon. His contribution to the band, along with bassist Jimmy Blanton, was so important that Ellington’s orchestra during that period is known as the Blanton-Webster band.
After Ellington in 1943, Webster worked on 52nd Street in New York City; recorded frequently as both a leader and a sideman. He worked with jazz giants Jay McShann, Oscar Peterson, Sid Catlett, Herb Ellis, Coleman Hawkins, Ray Brown, Alvin Stoller and Art Tatum, to name a few.
Webster generally worked steadily but in 1964 he moved permanently to join other American jazz musicians in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he played when he pleased during his last decade. In 1971 Webster reunited with Duke Ellington Big Band and he recorded “live” in France with Earl Hines.
Tenorist Ben Webster died in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on September 20, 1973. He remained rooted in the blues and swing-era ballads but he could swing with the best.
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