The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight

History

Top-billed performers Tatum and Webster were well-established figures in their 40s when they came together on September 11, 1956 for this production. 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. Notwithstanding the differences between the players, they meshed, a success in collaboration liner-note author Benny Green attributed to Webster's tone and professionalism. Critic Scott Yanow agrees that "the combination works very well" and also praises Webster for "wisely" emphasizing "the beauty of his tone." This was among the last recordings of Tatum, who died on November 5 of that year. The session was originally released in 1958 on an LP produced by Norman Granz for Verve Records under the title Art Tatum - Ben Webster Quartet.

By 1971, Granz had already 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, and reissued those albums in 1975 under the series titles The Tatum Group Masterpieces and The Tatum Solo Masterpieces as individual albums and also as two boxed sets. One track from the session, "All the Things You Are", 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 described it as "delectable", with "Webster's big, breathy tone" wrapping "Tatum's arabesques in a warm, loving embrace." The Washington Post characterized it as "[a] 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 describes volume 8 as "most exciting" among the Group Masterpieces collection. Along with volumes one and seven of the Group Masterpieces, it is recommended for inclusion in medium-sized or larger public libraries and all academic libraries by the Music Library Association in A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Sound Recordings.

Track listing

1. "Gone With the Wind" (Herb Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 4:48
2. "All the Things You Are" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 7:15
3. "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 4:49
4. "My One and Only Love" (Robert Mellin, Guy Wood) – 6:15
5. "Night and Day" (Cole Porter) – 5:31
6. "My Ideal" (Newell Chase, Leo Robin, Richard Whiting) – 7:18
7. "Where or When" (Hart, Rodgers) – 6:28

Bonus tracks

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

Musicians

Production