Ben Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973), aka "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. Known affectionately as "The Brute",[1] 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. Stylistically he was indebted to alto star Johnny Hodges, who, he said, taught him to play his instrument.

Read more about Ben Webster & Joe Zawinul on Last.fm.


User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.