Fascinating Juxtaposition of Styles
Karl W. Nehring | Ostrander, OH USA | 08/09/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With Art Tatum on piano and Ben Webster on sax, you know this is going to be a delight, and Red Callender on bass and Bill Douglass on drums provide solid support on this recording, originally made in 1956. Tatum has a complex, playful style, while Webster blows sparely in terms of notes but richly in terms of feeling. The end result is an endlessly fascinating juxtaposition of styles that somehow sound made for each other even though they seem so different. The sound is somewhat that way, too, with Tatum's piano sounding a little dry but Webster's tenor sounding big and warm with a halo of artificial reverb. Again, a strange juxtaposition, but again, it works. Wonderful music making!"