Bill Harris - Bill Harris and Friends

Ben Webster stands as one of the truly monumental artists of the tenor saxophone. Accordingly, it is primarily his impressive contribution that has given this long-unavailable 1957 Bill Harris “blowing date” its legendary status. His ballad treatment of “Where Are You?” and deeply swinging approach to “I Surrender, Dear” and “In a Mellotone” are memorable examples of one of the richest and most moving sounds in all of jazz. But Webster, best remembered for his 1940s association with Duke Ellington, was seldom in better company in his later years than on this session, backed by an impeccable West Coast rhythm section and sharing front-line honors with Harris-a pioneering trombonist of the modern era, a key member of the early Woody Herman “Herds,” and organizing force of the album.