''The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight'' is an album by pianist

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

and tenor saxophonist

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...

, with

Red Callender George Sylvester "Red" Callender (March 6, 1916 – March 8, 1992) was an American string bass and tuba player. He is perhaps best known as a jazz musician, but worked with an array of pop, rock and vocal acts as a member of The Wrecking Cre ...

on double bass and

Bill Douglass William Douglass (February 28, 1923 – December 19, 1994) was an American jazz drummer born in Sherman, Texas. Douglass relocated to Los Angeles when he was six months old,Bryant, 233. becoming in his adulthood a popular Los Angeles musician w ...

on drums. The 1956 session was originally released in 1958 on

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...

album produced by

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. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impresar ...

as '' The Art Tatum - Ben Webster Quartet'', 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 been reissued on CD, including a January 31, 1992 version with bonus tracks. The album was critically well-received, with critics singling out the combination of Webster's tone with Tatum's elaborate piano playing. The album is listed in several volumes as among the best in jazz and is recommended by the

Music Library Association The Music Library Association (MLA) of the United States is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians (including those whose music materials form only part of their responsibilities and collections). It also serves corpo ...

as an important piece for music libraries.

History

Tatum and Webster were established figures in their 40s when they assembled for this album on September 11, 1956. According to Ben Ratliff in ''Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings'', Tatum was known for virtuoso solo performance, while Webster had mellowed from his days with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

. Despite their differences, they were a good match. According to Benny Green in the liner notes, this was because of Webster's tone and professionalism. Critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

agrees that "the combination works very well". This was among the last recordings by Tatum, who died on November 5 of that year. The session was released in 1958 on an LP produced by

for

under the title ''Art Tatum – Ben Webster Quartet''. By 1971, Granz had 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 was a jazz record company and label founded by Norman Granz in 1973, more than a decade after he had sold his earlier catalog (including Verve Records) to MGM Records. Pablo initially featured recordings by acts that Granz managed: ...

, and reissued those albums in 1975 under ''The Tatum Group Masterpieces'' and ''The Tatum Solo Masterpieces'' as individual albums and as two boxed sets. One track from the session, "

All the Things You Are "All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was written for the musical ''Very Warm for May'' (1939)

", 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 Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'' 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'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' characterized it as " 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 No. 42, and in ''The 101 Best Jazz Albums'', where author

Leonard Lyons Leonard Lyons (born Leonard Sucher; 10 September 1906 - 7 October 1976) was an American newspaper columnist, best known for his ''New York Post'' column called "The Lyons Den." Background Leonard Lyons was born Leonard Sucher on September 10, 1906 ...

calls volume 8 the "most exciting" among the Group Masterpieces collection. ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' included the album in its suggested “core collection” of essential recordings. With volumes one and seven of the Group Masterpieces, it is recommended for inclusion in medium-sized or larger

public libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamenta ...

and all

academic libraries An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

by the Music Library Association in ''A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Sound Recordings''.

Track listing

# "

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Win ...

" (

Herb Magidson Herbert A. Magidson (January 7, 1906 – January 2, 1986) was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway revues. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934. Life and career Magidson was bo ...

Allie Wrubel Elias Paul "Allie" Wrubel (January 15, 1905 – December 13, 1973) was an American composer and songwriter. Biography Wrubel was born to a Jewish family in Middletown, Connecticut, United States, the son of Regina (née Glasscheib) and Isaac ...

) – 4:48 # "

All the Things You Are "All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was written for the musical ''Very Warm for May'' (1939)

" (

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) 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 ...

) – 7:15 # "

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. Background In the musical the son ...

" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

) – 4:49 # "

My One and Only Love "My One and Only Love" is a 1953 popular song with music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin.Gioia, T. (2012). ''The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire''. Oxford University Press. . pp. 284-285. Notable renditions by Frank Sina ...

" (

Robert Mellin Israel Melnikoff (September 22, 1902 – July 10, 1994), known professionally as Robert Mellin, was a Russian Empire-born American composer and lyricist and music publisher. Born in Kyiv and raised in Chicago, where his first job was music plugg ...

Guy Wood Guy B. Wood (24 July 1911 – 23 February 2001) was a musician and songwriter born in Manchester, England. Wood started his career in music playing saxophone in dance bands in England. He moved to the United States in the 1930s, where he worked f ...

) – 6:15 # " Night and Day" (

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

) – 5:31 # "My Ideal" (Newell Chase,

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) 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 and Shirl ...

Richard A. Whiting Richard Armstrong Whiting (November 12, 1891 – February 19, 1938) was an American composer of popular songs, including the standards "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" and "On the Good Ship Lollipop". He also wrote lyrics occasiona ...

) – 7:18 # "

Where 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. The song also appeared in the film version o ...

" (Rodgers, Hart) – 6:28

Bonus tracks

# "Gone With the Wind" (alternate take 1) (Magidson, Wrubel) – 4:53 # "Gone With the Wind" (alternate take 2) (Magidson, Wrubel) – 4:51 # "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (alternate take) (Rodgers, Hart) – 5:02

Personnel

Musicians

– piano *

– tenor saxophone *

– double bass *

– drums

Production

* Phil DeLancie –

audio mastering Mastering, 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 master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

* Peter Grant – design * Sam Gay – creative direction *

– record producer * Benny Green –

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 the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

Phil Stern Philip "Snapdragon" Stern (September 3, 1919 – December 13, 2014) was an American photographer noted for his iconic portraits of Hollywood stars, as well as his war photography while serving as a U.S. Army Ranger with "Darby's Rangers" during ...

– photography * Akira Taguchi – production *

Val Valentin Luis Pastor "Val" Valentin (January 6, 1920 – March 24, 1999) was an American recording engineer with six decades of work in the music industry. Much of his work was done for MGM Records and Verve Records. His large discography includes Jazz al ...

–

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

* Alan Yoshida – mastering

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight, The Art Tatum albums Ben Webster albums Pablo Records albums Albums produced by Norman Granz 1975 albums