Nice Ben Webster anecdote

[Larry Kart]

from bassist Steve Wallace's blog:

"Webster had the habit of sometimes tailing a note off to just a tiny puff of breath, finishing it with a miraculous sotto voce vibrato. It sounded like this – phuff-ffff-ff-fff-ff-ff-ff…f… He was living in Los Angeles in the late ’50s and work was scarce, but when he did work it was often with a marvelous band – Jimmy Rowles on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Red Mitchell or Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Frank Butler on drums. They played at a club called The Rennaissance and one night Butler called the young Billy Higgins to sub for him on drums. Higgins, only about eighteen, was both excited and nervous about this chance to work with such a master and wanted to play as considerately as possible for the elder Ben - he decided he would use brushes almost exclusively. The first number was at a slow-medium tempo and Billy was stirring away with his brushes on the snare drum when, halfway through his first chorus, Ben turned around and gruffly barked“Sticks, kid!” out of the side of his mouth. Billy, a little startled, switched to sticks and the ride cymbal.

The same thing happened whenever Ben played on the next couple of numbers, which were a little faster. Finally, Ben called a ballad and Billy figured he’d have to let him play brushes on this one. But no, eight bars into the melody, Ben leaned aside and snarled out “Sticks!” again, Billy couldn’t believe it. When the set was over, he was confused and a little hurt, he thought he’d played quite well. He decided to ask Ben about it and approached him. “Gee, Mr. Webster, don’t you like the way I play brushes?”. Ben answered, “Huh? Naah, it ain’t that, kid. You play just fine. But the shwoo, shwoo, shwoo from your brushes is gettin’ in the way of the foo, foo, ff-foo comin’ out my horn.”

[Larry Kart]

There's s lot of fine stuff on Wallace's blog:

wallacebass.com

[Dan Gould]

[Hot Ptah]

That is very funny!

[Ted O'Reilly]

There's s lot of fine stuff on Wallace's blog:

wallacebass.com

A lot, indeed! I've known Steve since he was a teenager, and while his musical talents were evident more than three decades ago, he's only shown his more-than-considerable writing skills in the last few years.

A more recent item than the Webster posting is Steve's lengthy take on the unjustly

overlooked Bill Harris.

[AllenLowe]

I think there is an LP of Webster with Rowles from that period, 'live'; might be on the Honey Dew label, not sure.

[mjzee]

I think there is an LP of Webster with Rowles from that period, 'live'; might be on the Honey Dew label, not sure.

This?

[HutchFan]

When I was a young person, first getting into jazz, I became an immediate Jimmy Rowles convert after hearing his "Georgia on My Mind" solo on that ^ record.  Such a distinctive sound. Made my jaw drop.

Rest of the band was pretty good too.  

[king ubu]

love that story, must have missed it when first posted

[Cyril]

 This reminds me of a film by Johan van der Keuken.

 

Tenor saxophonist Ben Webster was already a living jazz legend in 1967, when, at the age of 58, he moved to the Netherlands. In Amsterdam he rents a room from an elderly lady named Mrs. Hartlooper, who pampers him (“She treats me like her own son”) and even appears together with him on a popular TV talk show. In this short and playful film by Johan van der Keuken, we see Webster on the road with his instrument case, chatting with his landlady, musing on his past and rehearsing with other musicians, including jazz pianist Cees Slinger. Webster himself takes the 8mm camera and films the street and the director, he even influences the content of the film when he suggests that Van der Keuken shoot footage in a saxophone factory.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x268az9_big-ben-ben-webster-in-europe-1967-johan-van-der-keuken_shortfilms

 

 

 

[clifford_thornton]

34 minutes ago, Cyril said:

 This reminds me of a film by Johan van der Keuken.

 

Tenor saxophonist Ben Webster was already a living jazz legend in 1967, when, at the age of 58, he moved to the Netherlands. In Amsterdam he rents a room from an elderly lady named Mrs. Hartlooper, who pampers him (“She treats me like her own son”) and even appears together with him on a popular TV talk show. In this short and playful film by Johan van der Keuken, we see Webster on the road with his instrument case, chatting with his landlady, musing on his past and rehearsing with other musicians, including jazz pianist Cees Slinger. Webster himself takes the 8mm camera and films the street and the director, he even influences the content of the film when he suggests that Van der Keuken shoot footage in a saxophone factory.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x268az9_big-ben-ben-webster-in-europe-1967-johan-van-der-keuken_shortfilms

 

 

 

Wow, thanks - don't think I've ever seen this before.

[sidewinder]

It's a very interesting programme. I think the elderly Dutch lady threw him out in the end.