Daring to storm the heavens Nov 3, 2008
to Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. His sound is magnificent: velvety, luxuriant, vast and full of heart. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
The joy of comfort Oct 7, 2008
As a bonus, these sides brought together the cream of the jazz world to support Lady Day, and the players behind her Ben Webster, Benny Carter, Artie Shaw, Chu Berry, Johnny Hodges add much to the beauty of her achievements. There is little that's peaceful or soothing about the piano creations of Thelonious Monk. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Johnny Griffin, 80; Chicago jazz saxophonist lived in Europe Jul 27, 2008
He heard them both with Billy Eckstine's band in 1945 and, having first internalized the more ballad-like saxophone sound earlier popularized by Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster, became entranced by the lightning-fast phrasing of bebop, as the new music of Parker and Gillespie was known. In general his style remained brisk but relaxed, bebop playing salted with blues tonality. (Boston Globe)
4th Annual Jazz with Steinbeck Returns Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Jul 25, 2008
Vocalist Mary Stallings grew up in San Francisco, and began her jazz career in Bay Area clubs during her teenage years, when she performed with Louis Jordan's Tympani Five and shared the stage with such greats as Wes Montgomery and Ben Webster. She made her professional recording debut on Cal Tjader's 1961 album, Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
The Jazz Beat: Ellingtons right arm May 28, 2008
Ellington always wrote while keeping in mind the personalities and sound of his soloists such as Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Ben Webster, Ray Nance, Bubber Miley and Jimmy Blanton. Strayhorn brought a more classically schooled approach to the Ellington band, the combined approach of both men giving the band the unique Ellington sound. (Pembroke Mariner, MA)
A celebrated standard-bearer Apr 11, 2008
"Audience dislike has rarely if ever been a problem for Golson. On one level, his music is supremely accessible: In the tradition of precursors like Ben Webster or Coleman Hawkins, his tenor approach is eminently melodic, deliberate, and soft. He does not traffic in frenetic sheets of sound or dizzying, querying honks. But don't mistake ease of listening for lack of sophistication. A veteran of some of the edgiest, most seminal acts of his era, Golson is a craftsman of the old school acclaimed... (Boston Globe)
The Jazz Workout Apr 10, 2008
Hank is to them, I feel, as Lester Young was to Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and company. A unique, true original and an innovator who came up with his own truly personal sound and style. (Forbes -- Markets)
Meet Fergie's new best friend - a housewife from Hull Mar 9, 2008
" Poor Jean-Christophe. He did not, however, have to accompany the family on their shopping trip to Netto's supermarket on Preston Road. Normally, the family would binge on cheap ready-made meals, but with Sarah tutting behind them, they filled up their trolley with cream crackers, margarine and breakfast cereals. Ben Webster, a spokesman for ITV, says: "The aim of the programme is looking at how you can eat healthily on a limited budget. "The Sargersons are simply a typical family struggling to... (Daily Mail)
Cars to be given green light at junctions under Boriss London Mar 4, 2008
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent. Traffic lights will stay green longer for cars but be cut back for pedestrians under the transport manifesto of Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. (Times Online)
Vernon Alley Feb 29, 2008
During the war, he was stationed in the East Bay but lived in his own San Francisco apartment and hosted jam sessions in uniform featuring visiting jazzmen passing through town such as Lester Young and Ben Webster. After the war, he led the Vernon Alley Trio wherever jazz was played in San Francisco: the El Matador, Fack's, Jazz Workshop. (San Francisco Chronicle)
6000 a year to drive your Chelsea tractor into town Feb 13, 2008
Thousands of families with larger cars, such as people carriers, will be caught by the new 25 daily charge for vehicles that emit more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometre (writes Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent). At least 15,000 owners of larger cars living inside the charging zone will lose their residents discount and their daily payment will rise by 3,000 per cent from 80p to 25. (Times Online)
Oscar Peterson, 82; jazz pianist interwove prodigious power with swing Dec 25, 2007
His rendition of "I Only Have Eyes for You" earned a standing ovation and, according to Down Beat, stopped the concert "dead cold in its tracks." He joined Jazz at the Philharmonic tours the following year, holding his own with such luminaries as Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, and Coleman Hawkins. In 1959, Mr. Peterson founded the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto. (Boston Globe)
Stars align in Dowagiac for unforgettable show Nov 6, 2007
Jackson replaced Ben Webster in Henderson's and Eldridge's bands and won attention for big band composing and arranging for Benny Goodman, Calloway and Jack Teagarden for CBS.. Between tenures in Chicago, Jackson lived in New York and Sweden, performing, composing, arranging and directing bands. (Dowagiac News, MI)
SFJAZZ reaches a milestone of its own Sep 17, 2007
Joe Lovano Quartet and the Renee Rosnes Quartet, Herbst, Nov. 8: Tenor man Lovano swings with the ease and confidence of a Ben Webster, and Rosnes, pianist for the SFJazz Collective, is an unheralded wonder. Herbie Hancock Quartet and Gonzalo Rubalcaba solo, Masonic Center, Nov. 10: Rubalcaba (also playing Monterey, but can you really have too much transcendent genius. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Finally, an archive CD Sep 16, 2007
" Jackson would like to bring to light some shows that featured unusual combinations of musicians. "George Benson playing with the Modern Jazz Quartet; a sax summit with Ornette Coleman, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster - or maybe it was Benny Carter; Sonny Rollins and Benny Carter together. " That's obviously just scratching the surface. Practically all the greats of jazz and blues - and many of rock - have played Monterey, usually more than once: Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Earl Hines,... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
50 Years Of Jazz Sep 16, 2007
Over the next few years, modernists including Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk shared bills with older masters such as Ben Webster and Jack Teagarden. "Monterey has always had a cachet about it," says Rollins, who plays festivals around the world. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Short Takes: 'Zombies' invade; Quartet sizzles Sep 11, 2007
Tenor saxophonist James Carter is a powerful young player who has the ability to play in any style -- for more of Carter, check out Robert Altman's film "Kansas City," in which the precocious tenor plays the part of legendary saxophonist Ben Webster. With Sampsonia Way lined with chairs and several hundred poetry and music fans taking in the festivities, the event began with drummer Roger Humphries interpreting the poetry of Kaverly Nambisan, Rita Malikonyte and Horacio Castellanos Moya. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Beachful of Blues Jul 6, 2007
On 1997 s "Red Lights," seven of the 11 songs are Piccolo originals, but his latest CD, "Homage," from February 2001, pays tribute to many of the sax players who influenced his playing, such as Gene Ammons, Red Prysock, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ben Webster, Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet. And though "Homage" is just that paying homage to many greats from the swing world Piccolo has never been confined by genres. (Westerly Sun, RI)
Stairway to heavenly music Jul 1, 2007
" Those were the days when Pittsburgh was hopping -- clubs, casinos, burlesque houses and strip joints -- catering to all sorts of revelers. Downtown was dotted with clubs, both private and public, including the Benjamin Harrison Literary Club, an after-hours spot on Liberty Avenue reputed to be owned by gangsters. The North Side featured such clubs as Red's Cafe, Pace's and the Moose Club. Some of the best clubs could be found in the East End, including the Del Mar Canoe Club, which had... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Secret pact over Heathrows third runway Jun 7, 2007
The Government is facing calls for an investigation into allegations that it is colluding with BAA, the airport operator, over plans to build a third runway at Heathrow and allow an extra 500 flights a day over London. The Department for Transport has secretly passed key information supporting the expansion to the Spanish-owned company six months before it is due to be published in a consultation document. (Times Online)
Variety is the spice of her music May 13, 2007
"As I grew up," she says, "I wanted to go further back and check out the fathers of the saxophone. I listened to Illinois Jacquet , Jimmy Forrest , Lester Young, Ben Webster." ... Critic Nat Hentoff , who has been chronicling jazz since the 1940s, has written, "I hear the soul of Ben Webster in her tenor playing.". (Boston Globe)
Sonny Rollins still perfecting his sound at 76 May 5, 2007
Among jazz saxophone greatsA glance at the photos in his studio, a short walk from his 19th century farm house, prompts the observation that Rollins might be one of the only saxophonists around today who played with the other tenor saxophonists most influential in making it the signature instrument in modern jazz: Coleman Hawkins, whose recording of "Body and Soul" inspired the teenage Rollins to play tenor sax; Lester Young; Ben Webster; and his close friend John Coltrane, who was a... (MSNBC -- Music)
Million drivers just one flash away from ban Mar 30, 2007
More than a million motorists are now only one conviction away from losing their driving licences, according to a survey (Times Online)
Get your motor running Feb 20, 2007
Plays Ballads (Membran) by Ben Webster. Nobody plays ballads like Ben. (Guardian Unlimited)
Duke Ellington: Feb 15, 2007
A simple case is the contrast between Ben Webster and John Coltrane in their respective heydays. As a sideman for Ellington, Webster played short solos on some of the three-minute-miracle records made by the 194041 band. (Slate)
Whitney Balliett was a jazz critic master Feb 6, 2007
The jazz Balliett loved best was the small-group swing brought to perfection at the end of World War II on 52nd Street by such players as Big Sid Catlett , Vic Dickenson , Ben Webster , Bobby Hackett , and Pee Wee Russell. Though he wrote with enthusiasm of such innovators as Charles Mingus , Ornette Coleman , and Cecil Taylor , Balliett never warmed to the giants of postwar jazz: Charlie Parker , John Coltrane , Miles Davis. (Boston Globe)
Whitney Balliett Feb 5, 2007
This, for instance, on the tenor man Ben Webster, from a late collection. He would start a medium-slow blues solo very softly with a weaving five-note phrase, pause, play a high, barely audible blue note, and duck back to his opening phrase, still as soft as first sunlight. (New Yorker)
In the swing of things Jan 19, 2007
"In the ensuing four decades Frishberg's songs have been recorded by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, John Pizzarelli, Curtis Steigers, Mel Torme and others. But the greatest interpreter of Frishberg's songs is the songwriter himself. He performs his originals Saturday night in a solo concert at Thalian Hall.A Minnesota native, Frishberg moved to New York City in 1957 and quickly became part of the city's hot jazz scene. He wanted the experience of ensemble work and it came in to him in settings... (The Morning Star)
