{"product_id":"t6111129-old-betsy-pure-dsd-nativedsd-exclusive","title":"Old Betsy [Pure DSD] [NativeDSD Exclusive]","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThis is a Pure DSD - Analog Mixed album, transferred directly from the analog tape to DSD by STS Digital. It is available in 2-channel Stereo up to DSD 512 only at NativeDSD.\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eOn the album \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;\"\u003eOld Betsy\u003c\/span\u003e, Jazz saxophonist \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eBen Webster\u003c\/span\u003e performs ten songs, including “Jeep Is Jumpin’,” “You Forgot to Remember,” and more, with bassist Spike Heatley, drummer Tony Crombie, pianist Dick Katz, and Alan Haven on Hammond organ. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eThis is the 6th Ben Webster album available at NativeDSD. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe great box-like figure and slow-rolling walk of Ben Webster have become familiar sights in European cities since 1965, when he settled — gradually but apparently permanently — into life on this side of the Atlantic (at the time of writing, late 1967, he regards Amsterdam as his base). The sound of his tenor saxophone, though, sometimes hot and hoarse, increasingly often a stream of tuned puffs of wind, has been known to European jazz record collectors a good deal longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBen Webster came to prominence, slipping out from the shadow of Coleman Hawkins, so to speak, during his comparatively short stay with Duke Ellington in 1939–43. He was in his early thirties then, and had already worked with Bennie Moten, Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson, and many others. There had also been an intermittent association with the Ellington orchestra going back as far as 1935.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBen’s particular contribution to the art of the tenor saxophone is — as hinted above — a curiously breathy attack, in which he seems to be blowing round the mouthpiece rather than through it, a sound that Humphrey Lyttelton, on BBC’s Jazz Scene one night, referred to as Ben’s “breathalyser technique.” You can get a very clear idea of this, and some of Ben Webster’s other characteristics, on this record, made in London in January 1967.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eTo back him on all but two of the tracks, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eDick Katz\u003c\/span\u003e — well known once to most listeners as a member of the Ray Allington Quartet — was dragged from behind his agency desk and sat at the piano, to produce splendid, rolling two-handed stuff of a kind we could do with more often. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eSpike Heatley\u003c\/span\u003e, one of the best in Britain, is on bass, and \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eTony Crombie\u003c\/span\u003e is on drums. “My One and Only Love,” “Where or When,” and “Remember” have the distinctive organ sound of \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eAlan Haven\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAs with almost any Ben Webster set you’re likely to encounter in the flesh, there’s a strong tincture of Ellington about the repertoire. “Just a Sittin’ and a Rockin’” was originally titled “See’pea,” Duke’s nickname for his late lieutenant Billy Strayhorn, when it was first recorded in 1941. “Jeep Is Jumpin’” is a reference to one of the many pet names for Johnny Hodges. “Solitude,” the tune of which was written in 1934, is possibly the most widely known of Duke’s compositions outside jazz circles.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eMost of the rest of the material is made up of popular standards. The Jimmy McHugh–Dorothy Fields number “Exactly Like You” is from a 1930 New York show called \u003cem\u003eInternational Revue\u003c\/em\u003e. Of the two Irving Berlin tunes, “How Deep Is the Ocean” dates from 1925. Fats Waller and Andy Razaf wrote “Honeysuckle Rose” in 1929, since when it has quite possibly been played by more jazz musicians, of more various styles, than any other tune; in the middle and late thirties, no jam session sounded right without it. Richard Rodgers’ tune “Where or When,” with Lorenz Hart’s words, is from the 1937 musical \u003cem\u003eBabes in Arms\u003c\/em\u003e. Harry Barris (of the Rhythm Boys) and Ted Koehler wrote “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” which has one of the most yearning middle-eights of all popular songs, in 1931.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eReview:\u003c\/em\u003e “The sound quality is very good indeed. The instrument’s timbre is very accurate, the recording space is neatly distributed, and you can pinpoint where every musician is; the stereo image is wide and well distributed, with very detailed presence and transparency. The illusion of ‘being there’ is extremely realistic. I have the impression that this tape was meticulously mastered, and if so, it was a great mastering job. As a mastering engineer myself, I have found many nice recordings ruined by the mastering process. Not this one. Well, Fritz has been doing this since the ’70s, so he must know a thing or two about recording and sound quality...”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eBen Webster, Tenor Saxophone\u003cbr\u003eDick Katz, Piano\u003cbr\u003eSpike Heatley, Bass\u003cbr\u003eTony Crombie, Drums\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"STS Digital","offers":[{"title":"DXD 24 Bit \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57528192794948,"sku":"T6111129-22","price":22.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 512 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404276548,"sku":"T6111129-21","price":34.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 256 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404309316,"sku":"T6111129-16","price":28.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC 192 kHz \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404342084,"sku":"T6111129-6","price":17.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 128 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404374852,"sku":"T6111129-15","price":24.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC 96 kHz \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404407620,"sku":"T6111129-7","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 64 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57542404440388,"sku":"T6111129-14","price":22.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/7900\/2436\/files\/T6111129.jpg?v=1792768102","url":"https:\/\/www.nativedsd.com\/products\/t6111129-old-betsy-pure-dsd-nativedsd-exclusive","provider":"NativeDSD Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}