Thursday, May 14, 2020

Ben Webster's Uncanny Sense of Time: John Hardy's Wife (Live)

Here's some outrageous Ben Webster for hard core fans or for anyone curious to hear him stretch out in the years before LPs, during the time he was part of the Duke Ellington band. He recorded John Hardy's Wife with Duke, not to be missed. But this track is with Woody Herman sidemen and has far more blowing by The Brute. There are two sections that feature him--don't miss his return at about 2:19. To me, this solo is one example of how advanced he really was. (Bird gave it up for him, after all.) Listen to the way he cuts up the time during his second chorus, at 3:44. Then something weird happens: he seems to flounder on one note and the band takes over and ends the song early. I think he must have broken his reed, or his horn, because he had been playing so hard! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q8jji2X4Zg