Ben Webster Valentine's Day 1964! Live

Ben Webster
Valentine's Day 1964! Live
Dot Time Records

"Valentine's Day 1964! Live" is one of Ben Webster's last performances in New York City before he left the USA for Europe, where he spent the final nine years of his life. On this recording, he leads a quartet of Dave Frishberg on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Grady Tate on drums.

It is a program with several Duke Ellington numbers mixed in with blues and ballads. Webster's brawny tenor sax is well recorded and in the front, although this is not a perfectly engineered recording. As expected, Webster is superb on ballads, including an exquisite "Chelsea Bridge," a marvelous "Danny Boy," and a rhapsodic "Tenderly." His energetic playing animates "Cotton Tail," one of his features with Ellington two decades earlier. An original 'Ben's Blues," opens with Frishberg playing some two-fisted piano before Webster enters with his big tone. A quote of "Without a Song" is incorporated in Webster's solo here, with Davis' bass also quite evident. Davis also anchors the rendition of "52nd Street Theme," with Frishberg laying out during Webster's solo.

Renditions of Juan Tizol's "Caravan" open and close this recording. The opening version is taken at a quick tempo, while the closing performance is at a more relaxed pace, which perhaps better showcases his tone and sound. This recording is a welcome, although hardly indispensable, addition to Webster's legacy. This recording can be purchased as a CD from Dot Time Records at dottimerecords.com. One can buy a digital download at bandcamp.com, https://dottimerecords.bandcamp.com/album/ben-webster-valentines-day-1964-live.

I purchased this as a download. Here is a video of Ben Webster playing "Over the Rainbow."