Analogue Productions Ben Webster - Soulville [Mono]

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Together with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Ben Webster recorded one of the jazz highlights of the 1950s in 1957. Recorded in mono, the album opens with the soulful, sensual blues numbers 'Late Date' and the title track 'Soulville'. What follows are some of Webster's finest and most wistful ballads. Like only Billie Holiday, the tenor saxophonist had the talent to transform even the most hackneyed tracks into poignant works of art. His instrument breathes warm, soulful, sensitive melodies. Where other artists play 100 notes, Webster needs only ten - but each one goes straight to the heart.
Guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Stan Levey support Webster with their brilliant skills, and grandmaster Peterson takes a back seat to emphasise the saxophonist's playing with well-placed counterpoints. Anyone who hears this recording will never again think of jazz as boring background music.
This recording is part of a series of 25 Verve reissues on Analogue Productions. The original Analogue tapes are re-edited by senior mastering engineer George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York. Many of the tapes have been sent to other labels as copies for decades, but Sterling Sound works so closely with Universal Music, the owners of the Verve label, that they occasionally make an exception. The hybrid SACDs sound excellent and clearly outshine earlier digitisations.
1. Soulville
2. Late Date
3. Time on My Hands
4. Lover, Come Back to Me
5. Where Are You?
6. Makin' Whoopee
7. Ill Wind