The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight
Encyclopedia
The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight is a 1975 jazz
album featuring a 1956 session between pianist
Art Tatum
and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster
, with Red Callender
on double bass
and Bill Douglass
on drums
. The session was originally released on a Verve Records
album produced by Norman Granz
in 1958, but Granz re-acquired the masters
in the 1970s after the album was allowed to go out of print
. He reissued the material as one of a series of eight Group Masterpieces featuring Tatum in collaboration with other artists, also issuing it as part of a boxed set, The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces. The album has subsequently been reissued on CD, including a January 31, 1992 version with bonus tracks.
The album was critically well-received, with critics singling out the mesh of Webster's tone with Tatum's elaborate piano. The album is listed in several volumes as among the best in Jazz and is recommended by the Music Library Association
as an important piece for music libraries.
solo performance, while Webster had mellowed from his days with Duke Ellington
. Notwithstanding the differences between the players, they meshed, a success in collaboration liner-note author Benny Green attributed to Webster's tone and professionalism. Critic Scott Yanow
agrees that "the combination works very well" and also praises Webster for "wisely" emphasizing "the beauty of his tone." This was among the last recordings of Tatum, who died on November 5 of that year. The session was originally released in 1958 on an LP produced by Norman Granz
for Verve Records
under the title Art Tatum - Ben Webster Quartet.
By 1971, Granz had already attempted to gain access to this and his other out-of-print collaborations with Art Tatum from Verve, even offering to buy the masters. He acquired the rights after the 1973 formation of his own label, Pablo Records
, and reissued those albums in 1975 under the series titles The Tatum Group Masterpieces and The Tatum Solo Masterpieces as individual albums and also as two boxed sets. One track from the session, "All the Things You Are
", was later included in the 12-track CD The Best of the Pablo Group Masterpieces.
The album was reissued on January 31, 1992 with bonus tracks.
described it as "delectable", with "Webster's big, breathy tone" wrapping "Tatum's arabesques in a warm, loving embrace." The Washington Post
characterized it as "[a] great way to introduce two of the greats." The album is included in several books on the top albums in jazz, including Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, where it is listed at #42, and in The 101 Best Jazz Albums, where author Leonard Lyons
describes volume 8 as "most exciting" among the Group Masterpieces collection. Along with volumes one and seven of the Group Masterpieces, it is recommended for inclusion in medium-sized or larger public libraries
and all academic libraries
by the Music Library Association in A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Sound Recordings.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
album featuring a 1956 session between pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, with Red Callender
Red Callender
Red Callender, , was a jazz bass and tuba player, famous for turning down a chance to work with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars....
on double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and Bill Douglass
Bill Douglass
William "Bill" Douglass was an American jazz drummer born in Sherman, Texas. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles when he was six months old, becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers...
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. The session was originally released on a Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
album produced by Norman Granz
Norman Granz
Norman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
in 1958, but Granz re-acquired the masters
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
in the 1970s after the album was allowed to go out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. He reissued the material as one of a series of eight Group Masterpieces featuring Tatum in collaboration with other artists, also issuing it as part of a boxed set, The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces. The album has subsequently been reissued on CD, including a January 31, 1992 version with bonus tracks.
The album was critically well-received, with critics singling out the mesh of Webster's tone with Tatum's elaborate piano. The album is listed in several volumes as among the best in Jazz and is recommended by the Music Library Association
Music Library Association
The Music Library Association is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians . It also serves corporations, institutions, students, composers, scholars and others whose work and interests lie in the music librarianship field...
as an important piece for music libraries.
History
Top-billed performers Tatum and Webster were well-established figures in their 40s when they came together on September 11, 1956 for this production. According to Ben Ratliff in Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, Tatum was known for virtuosoVirtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
solo performance, while Webster had mellowed from his days with Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
. Notwithstanding the differences between the players, they meshed, a success in collaboration liner-note author Benny Green attributed to Webster's tone and professionalism. Critic Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
agrees that "the combination works very well" and also praises Webster for "wisely" emphasizing "the beauty of his tone." This was among the last recordings of Tatum, who died on November 5 of that year. The session was originally released in 1958 on an LP produced by Norman Granz
Norman Granz
Norman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
for Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
under the title Art Tatum - Ben Webster Quartet.
By 1971, Granz had already attempted to gain access to this and his other out-of-print collaborations with Art Tatum from Verve, even offering to buy the masters. He acquired the rights after the 1973 formation of his own label, Pablo Records
Pablo Records
Pablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1972, some ten years after he had sold his jazz labels to MGM Records....
, and reissued those albums in 1975 under the series titles The Tatum Group Masterpieces and The Tatum Solo Masterpieces as individual albums and also as two boxed sets. One track from the session, "All the Things You Are
All the Things You Are
"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
", was later included in the 12-track CD The Best of the Pablo Group Masterpieces.
The album was reissued on January 31, 1992 with bonus tracks.
Critical response
The album was critically well-received. In a 1994 review, The Hartford CourantThe Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is a morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury...
described it as "delectable", with "Webster's big, breathy tone" wrapping "Tatum's arabesques in a warm, loving embrace." The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
characterized it as "[a] great way to introduce two of the greats." The album is included in several books on the top albums in jazz, including Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, where it is listed at #42, and in The 101 Best Jazz Albums, where author Leonard Lyons
Leonard Lyons
Leonard Lyons was an American newspaper columnist.Leonard Sucher grew up in a large family of Jewish immigrants from the town of Horodenka in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father Moses, a tailor, died when he was six. His mother sold cigarettes and candy on the Lower East Side...
describes volume 8 as "most exciting" among the Group Masterpieces collection. Along with volumes one and seven of the Group Masterpieces, it is recommended for inclusion in medium-sized or larger public libraries
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
and all academic libraries
Academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to academic institutions above the secondary level, serving the teaching and research needs of students and staff...
by the Music Library Association in A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Sound Recordings.
Track listing
- "Gone With the WindGone with the Wind (song)"Gone with the Wind" is a popular song. The music was written by Allie Wrubel, the lyrics by Herb Magidson. The song was published in 1937. A version recorded by Horace Heidt was a #1 song in 1937.Diane E...
" (Herb MagidsonHerb MagidsonHerbert A. "Herb" Magidson was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway reviews. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934....
, Allie WrubelAllie WrubelAllie Wrubel was an American composer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Wrubel attended Wesleyan University and Columbia University before working in dance bands. He began his musical career in Greenwich Village, New York where he roomed with his close friend James Cagney...
) – 4:48 - "All the Things You AreAll the Things You Are"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
" (Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
) – 7:15 - "Have You Met Miss Jones?Have You Met Miss Jones?"Have You Met Miss Jones?" is a popular song that was written for the musical comedy, I'd Rather Be Right. The music was written by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song was published in 1937....
" (Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) – 4:49 - "My One and Only LoveMy One and Only Love"My One and Only Love" is a popular song with music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin. The song was published in 1952.It was recorded by Frank Sinatra on May 2, 1953 and released on Capitol 2505.- Cover versions :...
" (Robert Mellin, Guy WoodGuy WoodGuy B Wood was a musician and composer of songs. He was born in Manchester, England and moved to the United States in the 1930s...
) – 6:15 - "Night and DayNight and Day (song)"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) – 5:31 - "My Ideal" (Newell Chase, Leo RobinLeo RobinLeo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
, Richard WhitingRichard A. WhitingRichard Armstrong Whiting was a composer of popular songs including the standards, "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" & "On the Good Ship Lollipop"....
) – 7:18 - "Where or WhenWhere or When"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes In Arms. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. It also appeared in the movie of the same title two years later...
" (Hart, Rodgers) – 6:28
Bonus tracks
"Gone With the Wind" (Magidson, Wrubel) – 4:53 - "Gone With the Wind" (Magidson, Wrubel) – 4:51
- "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (alternate take) (Hart, Rodgers) – 5:02
Personnel
- Red CallenderRed CallenderRed Callender, , was a jazz bass and tuba player, famous for turning down a chance to work with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars....
– double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, performer - Phil DeLancie – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Bill DouglassBill DouglassWilliam "Bill" Douglass was an American jazz drummer born in Sherman, Texas. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles when he was six months old, becoming in his adulthood a popular LA musician who worked shows and sessions with some of swing's top performers...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, performer - Sam Gay – creative director
- Peter Grant – design
- Norman GranzNorman GranzNorman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Benny Green – liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
- Phil SternPhil SternPhil "Snapdragon" Stern is an award-winning American photographer noted for his iconic portraits of Hollywood stars, as well as his war photography while serving as a U.S. Army Ranger in the "Darby's Rangers" unit in the North African and Italian campaigns during World War II. Settling in Los...
– photography - Akira Taguchi – producer
- Art TatumArt TatumArthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Val Valentin – engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Ben WebsterBen WebsterBenjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
– tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, performer - Alan Yoshida – mastering