''Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster'', also simply called ''Meets Ben Webster'', is a 1960 album featuring the November 3 - December 2 studio sessions of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

and

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, a ...

.Gerry Mulligan Discography
accessed February 29, 2016 In a 2003 review, ''All That Jazz'' described this album as the most significant of Gerry Mulligan's work partnering other legendary figures of jazz. The album, as a "classic album from two giants", is featured in

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's "Basic Jazz Record Library". Originally released on the

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

label, the album was reissued by the label many times (as well as by

Mobile Fidelity Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label that specialized in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engine ...

) before being re-released in an expanded edition called ''Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (Complete)'' by Verve in 1997. In 2000, it was voted number 448 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''. He stated it is "a fine example of how two seemingly disparate musicians can perform together superbly."

1960 track listing

''Except where otherwise indicated, all songs composed by

.'' #"

Chelsea Bridge Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank, and split between the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kensin ...

" (

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the ...

) – 7:22 #"The Cat Walk" (Mulligan,

) – 5:47 #"

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

" (

Chester Conn Chester Conn (''né'' Master Chester Cohn; April 14, 1894 – April 4, 1973) was an American composer of popular music and music publisher. Early life and career Chester was born in San Francisco, California to David Cohn and Minnie ''(née'' Ne ...

, Bennie Krueger,

Nathan "Ned" Miller Nathan "Ned" Miller (August 2, 1899 – January 26, 1990) was a British-born American songwriter, composer, music publisher, and actor who wrote the hit songs, "Why Should I Cry Over You", (a waltz ballad) in 1922, "Sunday" (a jazz standard) in ...

Jule Styne Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...

) – 7:25 #"Who's Got Rhythm" – 7:42 #"Tell Me When" – 5:06 #"Go Home" – 10:04

CD bonus tracks

In a Mellow Tone "In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler. The song was based on the 1917 standard " Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams, which Ellington hi ...

" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

) – 6:57 #"

What Is This Thing Called Love? "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical '' Wake Up and Dream''. It was originally published by Harms and first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular ja ...

" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

) – 7:28 #"For Bessie" (Webster) – 5:41 #"Fajista" (Webster) – 5:50 #"Blues in B Flat" – 7:22

1997 "Complete" track listing"

''Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by

.'' #"In a Mellow Tone" (Ellington, Gabler) – 7:20 #"In a Mellow Tone (alternate take)" (Ellington, Gabler) – 5:44 #"What Is This Thing Called Love?" (Porter) – 7:22 #"Chelsea Bridge (original LP master take)" (Strayhorn) – 7:39 #"Chelsea Bridge (alternate take)" (Strayhorn) – 5:03 #"Go Home (alternate take)" – 10:01 #"Go Home (original LP master take)" – 6:54 #"Who's Got Rhythm? (original LP master take)" – 7:26 #"For Bessie" (Webster) – 5:38 #"Go Home" (Mulligan, Webster) – 1:44 #"Go Home" (Mulligan, Webster) – 1:30 #"Fajista (alternate take)" (Webster) – 1:34 #"Fajista (alternate take)" (Webster) – 6:21 #"Fajista (alternate take)" (Webster) – 1:37 #"Fajista" (Webster) – 5:58 #"Tell Me When" – 5:02 #"Tell Me When (alternate take)" – 5:29 #"Blues in B Flat (alternate take)" – 2:46 #"Blues in B Flat" – 8:38 #"Blues in B Flat (alternate take)" – 7:23 #"The Catwalk (alternate take)" – 3:26 #"The Catwalk (alternate take)" – 5:45 #"The Catwalk (original LP master take)" – 2:13 #"The Catwalk (alternate take)" – 6:19 #"Sunday" (Conn, Krueger, Miller, Styne) – 5:32 #"Sunday" (Conn, Krueger, Miller, Styne) – 7:21

Personnel

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

Jimmy Rowles James George Hunter (August 19, 1918 – May 28, 1996), known professionally as Jimmy Rowles (sometimes spelled Jimmie Rowles), was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored multiple styles in ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Leroy Vinnegar Leroy Vinnegar (July 13, 1928 – August 3, 1999) was an American jazz bassist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, the self-taught Vinnegar established his reputation in Los Angeles, California, during the 1950s and 1960s. His trademar ...

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo and the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series. Gra ...

- producer *

Phil Schaap Philip van Noorden Schaap (April 8, 1951September 7, 2021) was an American radio host, who specialized in jazz as a broadcaster, historian, archivist, and producer. He hosted an assortment of jazz programs at WKCR and WNYC in New York City and ...

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

References

{{Authority control Verve Records albums Gerry Mulligan albums Ben Webster albums 1960 albums Albums produced by Norman Granz