Ben Webster
tenor saxophone
Swing-era tenor saxophonist; for Barry he is one of the great individual sounds of jazz’s golden era, usually named alongside Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.
- mentions
- 6
- recordings
- 5
- Barry speaking
- 4
What Barry says
Barry holds up Webster as proof that the great horn players each had a sound of their own: Hawkins, Webster, Prez, Bird and Sonny Stitt all sounded different, whereas young players now sound so alike you cannot tell who is playing.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York11:1411:50Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Student Interviews After Concert11:4812:22
He ties those different sounds to vibrato. Bird, Webster and Hawkins owed their different sounds partly to their vibratos, so horn players should practise vibrato instead of playing with a straight tone; Barry suspects vibrato is connected with soul.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York11:5012:24Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Student Interviews After Concert12:22
Webster belongs to what Barry calls the golden era of the music, with Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. He brings Webster in among the greatest, with Dizzy, Prez and Hawkins, though Bird and Bud come first for him.
The last train to Monk: an interview9:32Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶34
Asked in the Smithsonian interview where players stand in relation to bebop, Barry says Webster is something different too, grouping him with Coleman Hawkins, while Dexter Gordon stands a little apart on his own.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶382Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶383Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶387
When Ted Panken reads a liner note saying Barry’s Detroit club work included Webster, Barry answers that he can vouch only for Lester Young and Flip Phillips.
In his own words
The vibrato is probably what makes the distinction between the [Bird], the Ben Webster, the Coleman Hawkins, all these people have all these different sounds.
why was there a difference between [Prez] and Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Eddie Lockjaw Davis? All them cats had different sounds
I’m in love with Bird, but these are the greatest: Dizzy, you know, Prez and Coleman and Ben Webster, I bring them in, you know, but Bird and Bud.
Here’s Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and…other people. They’re sort of here, Dexter might have been a little notch on his own the way he played.
this was the Golden Era of the music. We had Lester Young, we had Coleman Hawkins, we had Ben Webster, we had Charlie Parker
Every mention
6 moments in the recordings, 4 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York
Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Student Interviews After Concert
- 11:48
Asks tenor players why Prez, Hawkins, Webster and Lockjaw Davis all had different sounds.
The last train to Monk: an interview
- 9:32
Names Webster with Dizzy, Prez and Hawkins among the greatest, though Bird and Bud come first.
Barry Harris Spanish TV
- 15:37
Someone else
Spanish TV narrator says that after touring with Max Roach, Barry played in Detroit with Webster and Roy Eldridge.
Barry Harris Workshop Madrid 2018
- 0:00
Someone else
A Spanish presenter lists Webster among the musicians Barry has played with.
In the interviews and notes
Barry calls the years of his youth the golden era of the music, when Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Charlie Parker were all there to hear.
Panken reads a liner note saying Barry’s Rouge Lounge years included work with Konitz, Young, Eldridge and Webster; Barry replies that the only ones he remembers are Lester Young and Flip Phillips.
Asked about Webster while discussing Dexter Gordon and bebop, Barry says Webster is different as well, and puts him in one group with Coleman Hawkins, with Dexter a notch on his own.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶382Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶383Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶387
De Lima writes that Barry counts older players such as Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Webster as beboppers, though the remark he quotes from Barry names only Hawkins and Young.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.