Search - Ben Webster, Joe Zawinul :: Soulmates

Soulmates

Bomojaz | South Central PA, USA | 11/22/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Joe Zawinul, at the time this album was recorded, was the pianist with Cannonball Adderley's group. He was a modern stylist with an affinity for Third Stream music; he would later be a key member of the fusion group Weather Report. That he would record with Ben Webster is somewhat a mystery, but for the most part, the pairing works well.



It's a well-balanced program that the group plays (Richard Davis [b] and Philly Joe Jones [d] round out the quartet, with, another surprise, Thad Jones added on cornet on half the numbers; Sam Jones [b] repalces Davis on Thad's numbers). There are a couple of slow ballad features for Ben's mournful tenor (TOO LATE NOW and COME SUNDAY), and another medium-slow version of TRAV'LIN LIGHT where Ben plays about as sexy as I've ever heard him play. Webster's own THE GOVERNOR is taken up, and Ben puts on his gruff bear suit for this one. Zawinul has a nice solo on EVOL DEKLAW NI (read it backwards), and his composition FROG LEGS has a clever boppish theme.



Thad doesn't get much of a chance to do anything, and you wonder if maybe he was in the right place at the right time and got invited into the proceedings. This album didn't set the world on fire, but it's a respectable addition to both Ben and Joe's discography. Three of the tunes had alternates made available in the LP days, and it's a surprise they weren't put on here. Oh well."

HouseMates

Bomojaz | 06/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ben & Joe were housemates for a spell; hence this session isn't such a mystery. Thad Jones, in at the last minute, doesn't play a lot, but adds much when he does, and even gets a song of his own in. Some fine playing, although the strange reverb on Ben's horn takes some getting used to after hearing other albums - the sax sounds somehow distant. Not my favorite for listening straight through, but with enough merit to warrant checking out. Not your Weather Report nor Cannonball-style Zawinul, but some nice "lost in the archives" playing, especially when Thad sits in."

Fascinating Coupling

James E. Kiely | Medford, Massachusetts United States | 12/24/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I second the notion that there is nothing odd about the pairing of Webster and Zawinul. From a historical viewpoint, it is a chance to hear jazz's past and future greats working together; from a musical perspective, it shows (once again) that the more-modern generation of jazz musicians could work within different modes and that they did not discard the past but built upon it. So, yes, wonderful idea, particularly on "The Governor," which is tight, full and swinging (and written by Ben Webster).



Once again, however, I find fault with production. As one of the reviewers suggested, in most of the tracks Zawinul's piano and the rest of the ensemble seem to be playing in two entirely different environments. While the piano is clear and "present" within my listening room, all of the horns, especially Webster's, suffer an acoustic oddity. They truly sound as though they are wafting out of an alley window: no warmth, slightly brash and flatly echoing.



Webster has always had a big sound. It's sad to me that the producers of this particular album did not know how to handle it. If you have enough room to collect albums that are more historically than aurally satisfying, this is a good one to have. If you are as well off simply knowing that these two great musicians once worked together, you might want to pass on it."