BEN WEBSTER & TETE MONTOLIU TRIO - Gentle Ben
Ensayo DM 5182-02
Ben Webster (Tenor); Tete Montoliu (Piano); Peer Wyboris (Drums); Eric Peter (Bass)
Ben Webster is a key figure in jazz without strangely attracting too many disciples: Archie Shepp is a significant exception. After three years with Ellington (1940 - 1943) Webster turned into a nomadic wanderer inhabiting the clubs the clubs of the US and Europe seeking out sympathetic rhythm sections and not always finding them.
He was lucky with the trio led by Montoliu. The opening ‘Ben’s Blues’ is taken at the kind of speed that Ben preferred in his later years, slow, swinging and loping. The tone, his sound, as always, was as wide as a canyon, unmistakable.
The session was recorded in Barcelona three months before Ben's death in September 1973. The bluster has gone and he could caress a theme like ‘The Man I Love’ with tenderness. One of the paradoxes of Ben was that in person he was quite an aggressive man but in his music he was gentle, seductive and sensual.
The final track ‘Barcelona Shout’ is aggressive Ben. The track is in the vein of the ‘Cottontail’ that he played for Ellington. Significantly, it is the shortest track; by 1973 Ben had other preoccupations that he wanted to explore in his music.
Tete Montoliu, here playing with what at the time was his regular trio, blended well with Ben. Montoliu had a vast technique but here he is restrained. The way that his fill-ins dove-tail so well with the tenorist is a tribute to his skill and sensitivity. Montoliu is a virtuoso but here he is the supreme accompaniment.
It is worth noting that the recording captures the tone of the Webster tenor with its breadth and its breathy nuances. If you want a great example of later Ben Webster, and why wouldn't you, this recording splendidly reproduces Ben’s glorious, utterly unique rich sound.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Ensayo DM 5182-02
Ben Webster (Tenor); Tete Montoliu (Piano); Peer Wyboris (Drums); Eric Peter (Bass)
Ben Webster is a key figure in jazz without strangely attracting too many disciples: Archie Shepp is a significant exception. After three years with Ellington (1940 - 1943) Webster turned into a nomadic wanderer inhabiting the clubs the clubs of the US and Europe seeking out sympathetic rhythm sections and not always finding them.
He was lucky with the trio led by Montoliu. The opening ‘Ben’s Blues’ is taken at the kind of speed that Ben preferred in his later years, slow, swinging and loping. The tone, his sound, as always, was as wide as a canyon, unmistakable.
The session was recorded in Barcelona three months before Ben's death in September 1973. The bluster has gone and he could caress a theme like ‘The Man I Love’ with tenderness. One of the paradoxes of Ben was that in person he was quite an aggressive man but in his music he was gentle, seductive and sensual.
The final track ‘Barcelona Shout’ is aggressive Ben. The track is in the vein of the ‘Cottontail’ that he played for Ellington. Significantly, it is the shortest track; by 1973 Ben had other preoccupations that he wanted to explore in his music.
Tete Montoliu, here playing with what at the time was his regular trio, blended well with Ben. Montoliu had a vast technique but here he is restrained. The way that his fill-ins dove-tail so well with the tenorist is a tribute to his skill and sensitivity. Montoliu is a virtuoso but here he is the supreme accompaniment.
It is worth noting that the recording captures the tone of the Webster tenor with its breadth and its breathy nuances. If you want a great example of later Ben Webster, and why wouldn't you, this recording splendidly reproduces Ben’s glorious, utterly unique rich sound.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
