Ben Webster Atmosphere For Lovers And Thieves

Ben Webster is still a true musical great on the tenor saxophone. His pieces are soulful and poignant, as one is used to from him. Webster shows his wide-ranging expression, with a breathy tone he plays the romantic melodies, such as "My Romance" and "What's New". With fresh tones, "Easy To Love" Swing is underpinned with humor, "Autumn Leaves" has perfect timing and groove from the beginning. The pianist of the backing band is not one of Webster's usual comrades-in-arms, but that does not prevent him from creating a softly swinging accompaniment to Webster's improvisations. The bass sounds quite strongly controlled in the recordings, but the drive it radiates is a real gain. The melody "Stardust" is beautiful and it causes some musicians difficulty improvising - but this does not apply to Ben Webster. Here he shows that he masters the combination of flow and fresh expression. The piece "Yesterdays" is played so close to the microphone that one fears a 'gas leak'. But Ben Webster never exaggerates, he has his 'gas flow vibrato' under control, which has been cultivated for years.
A great recording is "Duke's Blue Light" ("Transbluency"). If ever a blues has been sung on an instrument, it is on this recording. Webster's solos are unprecedented and his last one is like a call from the heart. The accompaniment by the band (Meyer's Band) is so good that you would like to hear more from them. For example, a brilliant trombone solo in "Darville" should be highlighted, the piano playing is sensitive and the ensemble has a full and warm sound overall. But most of all, it's Ben Webster's soulful, poignant game that works. The melodies have the potential for these moods, at least Webster plays them in such a way that they have it. The rhythm always remains fresh and everything goes well with Webster's brilliant and powerful saxophone playing.
Black Lion can be congratulated on this album: for the good cover text, the successful cover and the music in good recording quality.
"Ben is still a whale of a tenor player, his approach for the ballads being as poignant and lyrical as ever. On such romantic tunes as 'My Romance' and 'What's New,' that breathy tone and broad-beamed phrasing are well in evidence, whilst the underlying humor and swing are more to the fore in the more muscular 'Easy to Love.'…Nothing ever drags, the pulse is always strong and the accompaniments well suited to Webster's lustrous, lusty blowing." – Jazz Journal, 1971
"Based upon the diversity of music, quality of product and their extraordinary rate of progress, Pure Pleasure Records is our re-issue record company of the year." - Hi-Fi +

Features:

• 180g Vinyl LP
• Made in the UK

Musicians:

• Ben Webster, Ole Kongsted (ts)
• Arnved Meyer (tr)
• John Darville (tb)
• Kenny Drew, Niels Jorgen Stein (p)
• Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson, Hugo Rasmussen (b)
• Alex Riel, Hans Nymand (dr)

Selections:

Side A
1. Blue Light
2. Stardust
3. What's New
4. Autumn Leaves
Side B
1. Easy To Love
2. My Romance
3. Yesterdays
4. Days Of Wine And Roses