eShop USA > Music > Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
Our Price: $11.98 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on qualifying items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout.
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0042284166126
Label: Polygram Records
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
MPN: 841661
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Polygram Records
Release Date: March 21, 1990
Studio: Polygram Records
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
This 1959 recording brings together two fine musicians from worlds that one might not usually connect. Gerry Mulligan's light and airy baritone saxophone represents the "cool," and Ben Webster's burred and blustery tenor is the epitome of a very "warm" swing. When this was recorded, however, the quintet was actually a working band. Mulligan had a profound appreciation of Webster's talent, and the two shared an affection for the music of Duke Ellington and his composing partner, Billy Strayhorn, both of whom are represented here. With pianist Jimmy Rowles, an accompanist of legendary subtlety, and the sparkling rhythm team of bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Mel Lewis, this is wonderful small-group jazz, literally beyond classification. There's something unique in the ensemble sound of the two horns, with all the gravity concentrated in the higher tenor, but this is very much a blowing session, with Webster at his lyrical, passionate best. --Stuart Broomer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
Excellent interplay between the smooth and unique sound of Mulligans Baritone and the syrupy slurs of Webster's Tenor. Webster's note bending harkens back to his days with Blanton in the Ellington Band. In Chelsea Bridge song Mulligan starts out playng obligato to Webster and gradually switches to the lead as the two intertwine in a unique fashion reminiscent of the GM Quartet with Chet Baker. The piano and bass fill in the emptiness that otherwise would result. The engineer purposely keeps the saxes ... Read More
Rating:  - Two of the Best
This is a magnificent album, but first things first: Webster's reading of "Chelsea Bridge" is simply the most exquisite ballad recorded in jazz, better (by far) than his original with the Ellington orchestra of the '40's. This song, one of Billy Strayhorn's most beautiful and complex, has challenged solists for over half a century; it virtually is without a key, and its harmonies could confound a cryptologist. Yet Mulligan crafts a seamless solo that relies on melodic simplicity, and it almost matches ... Read More
Rating:  - Enjoyable Sax Conference - But Not Their Best
All the cuts here are satisfying, a couple are quite infectious. But I enjoy Gerry Mulligan's work more when he was not having to play second fiddle or host to another jazz star. The "Konitz Meets Mulligan" album had the same limitations, for me. Ben Webster was good on these sessions, but not at his best. I urge you to not make this your only exposure to these great sax men.
(The more I listen to this album, the better I like it. Still think the casual listener would do better elsewhere - certainly ... Read More
Rating: - Welcome to the West
After aquiring a couple hundred "jazz" cd's ranging from the most avant garde to the most mainstream playing from the Blue Note 50's, I noticed I had nothing from Gerry Mullian or the "West Coast" White Cats. I have always thought Ben Webster was quite awesome, especially the fact that he played with Ellington and was influneced by Johnny Hodges. So this album really suprised me. I could tell that this was a making of the west coast, you can feel the cloudy Jack Kerouac San Fransico streats in this record. ... Read More
Rating: - 4 1/2 The Parts Better Than the Whole
Yes, it is an excellent CD, but it's not the best work done by either man, and I don't quite buy the symbiotic quality ascribed to this work by some others. The quartet does excellent work together, and I love the song choice, but there's a little too much respect going on here, as if the two leads were very careful--perhaps too much so--about giving each other their due. As a result, there's a little hesitancy in their work, and some of the songs just don't let loose enough, don't swing to the fullest.
Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
