Ben Webster: “How Long Has This Been Going On?”

This is the Ben Webster Quartet -- Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, Kenny Drew on piano, Nils Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Alex Riel on drums – performing “How Long Has This Been Going On?”

Benjamin Francis Webster (1909 – 1973) was born in Kansas City and considered one of the three most important “swing tenors” during his lifetime along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Nicknamed “The Brute”, he had a tough raspy and brutal tone on stomps (with his own distinctive growls), yet on ballads he would play with warmth and sentiment.

You can watch him here perform “Flying Home” and here performing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”