Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Daily Toot: Ben Webster

Ben Webster, if anyone, has that rubato, portamento quality I've tried to account for in talking about Billie Holiday. Particularly in both of their approach to rhythm.

This YT clip is as good as any example of Webster's style. 

Webster's solo, on "Did You Call Her Today"? is between 3:29 and 5:33. 



Listen to how he stretches and squeezes both the note lengths and pitches. But he has a steady beat underneath. This medium tempo is a great place to hear it, because the underlying beat is stated strongly. Both by the rhythm section, and by Webster in certain accented notes.

Students ask me: how do I practice something like that? First, I'd say, you have to have a solid sense of where the time and pitch are, down to the microtones and microbeats. 

You can bend a note--but you have to have an idea about where you're bending to or from. You have to hear it, as well as lip it. Ditto for stinging or delaying a note: how can you decide when to do that if you don't have a "groove track" in your head? 

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