Ben Webster And "Sweets" Edison Ben Webster And "Sweets" Edison on Hybrid SACD from ORG

The two jazz giants Ben Webster and Harry "Sweets" Edison had long wanted to record an album together, and in 1962 it came to fruition with excellent accompaniment from Hank Jones (piano), George Duvivier (bass) and Clarence Johnston (drums). Although associated with two different orchestras (Edison/Basie and Webster/Ellington), these two swing kings found that they indeed had a lot in common. For evidence of this classic pairing look no further than these sides!

This album features both horn men on three medium tempo blues numbers "Better Go," "Kitty," and "Did You Call Her Today." In addition, Webster gets two tenor features, contributing absolutely luscious solos on both "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "My Romance." After listening to these songs, there can be no doubt that Webster is one of the best balladeers jazz has ever produced. 

Edison also gets his moment in the sun as well on the album closer which finds Sweets playing a wonderful, even fairly modern sounding, rendition of "Embraceable You" using a Harmon mute. The ballads, enhanced by the wonderful harmonic sense of pianist Hank Jones, are the highlight of this historic release, and show both Webster and Sweets' unbeatable melodic sense.

Ben Webster, tenor saxophone

"Sweets" Edison, trumpet

Hank Jones, piano 

George Duvivier, bass

Clarence Johnson, drums

1. Better Go

2. How Long Has This Been Going On

3. Kitty

4. My Romance

5. Did You Call Her Today

6. Embraceable You