The only album-length collaboration between pianist
Art Tatum and tenor saxophonist
Ben Webster (accompanied by a rhythm section of
Red Callender, bass, and
Bill Douglass, drums) was this September 11, 1956, session under the auspices of
Norman Granz's
Verve Records label. (It was also
Tatum's last recording session before his death.)
Granz probably suggested the repertoire of standards by the likes of
Kern and
Hammerstein,
Rodgers & Hart, and
Cole Porter, but the melodies, of course, only provide a framework. On each track,
Tatum leads things off, with
Callender and
Douglass coming in discreetly (and low in the mix). Then, at a certain point,
Webster appears in the foreground, playing comparatively few notes and sticking much more to the melody than his partner. This is a good approach, since
Tatum never subsides to simple comping; he just keeps soloing away under
Webster's rich tenor tones until
Webster stops playing, and then keeps on to the end. So, although this is billed as a group effort, it's not a group of equals or really one in which the players are cooperating with each other.
Tatum might as well be playing solo, since he takes very little account of what's happening around him.
Granz makes it work by varying the volume of the different instruments in the mix, and the result is a fascinating study in contrasts. [For this reissue of
The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet (imperiously dubbed
The Album and credited to
Art Tatum/
Ben Webster), the compilers have delved into the
Tatum catalog to find solo performances of five of the seven songs and appended them. The effect, following the group versions, is as if the playing overlaying and underlying
Tatum had been swept away, leaving him to his amazing elaborations and confirming that he had no need of accompanists.] ~ William Ruhlmann
