BOOKLET
This release contains the complete classic album “Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster”, as well as the other six tunes from the session, originally issued on different Hawkins albums and long out-of-print anthologies.
As a further bonus, it is added four tunes from sessions recorded on both the previous and the same day by each saxophonist alone with the same rhythm section. The sessions end with each player presenting his own reading of Ill Wind.
Tracks #1-7 originally issued as Verve MGV 8327.
Personnel on tracks #1-6: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b) and Alvin Stoller (d). Recorded in Los Angeles, on October 16, 1957.
Personnel on tracks #13 & 15: Same personnel, place and date but omit Ben Webster.
Personnel on tracks #14 & 16: Same personnel and place but omit Coleman Hawkins and Stan Levey replaces Alvin Stoller. Recorded on October 15, 1957.
“These aren’t encounters in the confrontational sense, but a merger of great musical minds.”
Ron Wynn -All Music Guide
One of the great studio sessions of the 1950’s (and part of a series by producer Norman Granz to pair pianist Oscar Petersons trio with great horn players), Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster remains a jazz masterpiece. Musicians back then would often show up and call tunes instead of bringing original compositions to recording sessions. The concept may have been simple, but the performances by Hawkins and Webster, two of the greatest tenor saxophone players in jazz, are incredibly deep. The renditions of certain jazz standards on this classic album some of the most beautiful versions ever put on record.
First is the raunchy Blues for Yolande, where the two tenors battle it out through a 6/8 shuffle. Coleman Hawkins proves that he’s still the man, honking through the blues with a gruff verve that was emulated by the young rock sax players of the day like King Curtis and Boots Randolph. Listen for the part where Hawkins is literally screaming through his horn, a technique that would later be heavily adopted by free players such Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Dewey Redman. Webster answers with his typically smooth and plaintive moan, but soon proves that he can growl with the best of them.
This album also features some of the most beautiful ballad playing of both saxophonists career. It Never Entered my Mind and Prisoner of Love demonstrate both Hawkins’ and Webster’s distinct but equally gorgeous breathy sounds. Hawkins, the rougher of the two, places a harder inflection and heavier vibrato on every note, while Webster creamily scoops and bends his way into each phrase. Its as though Hawkins is rising from the earth itself while Webster floats above the proceedings in a cloud.
With the exception of the Latin-tinged groove that drives La Rosita, most of this album swings incredibly hard. Tracks like You’d be So Nice to Come Home To and Tangerine have the kind of feel that just make you just want to tap your foot along with it. While there are very few solos from the rhythm section (indeed the only person to take a solo aside from Webster or Hawkins is Oscar Peterson), so much of the success of this album hinges upon Peterson, Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar, and Alvin Stoller on drums. They prove why they were one of the top call rhythm sections of the 1950’s.
Overall, this is a beautifully melodic and sensitive record. Its relaxed pace (it never gets faster than a medium swing) allows the masterful saxophonists to showcase their greatest strengths, namely their deep and distinctive tones and heartfelt interpretations of the melodies. While the album is a saxophone feature all around, the rhythm section provides the rhythmic depth to make the record all the more satisfying. Coleman Hawkins encounters Ben Webster displays a warmth and lyricism that is often lost in modern jazz in favour of complicated rhythms and harmonies. This record definitely goes on my list of essential classic listening.
Recorded:
October 16, 1957 on Verve Records
Personnel:
Coleman Hawkins Tenor Sax
Ben Webster Tenor Sax
Oscar Peterson Piano
Herb Ellis Guitar
Ray Brown Bass
Alvin Stoller Drums