Artist: Ben Webster

Benjamin Francis Webster was an American  jazz tenor  saxophonist. 

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he played with  Lester Young in the Young Family Band. He recorded with Blanche Calloway and became a member of the Bennie Moten Orchestra with Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, and Walter Page. During the 1930s, he played in bands led by Willie Bryant, Benny Carter,  Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk, and  Teddy Wilson. 

Webster was a soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra starting in 1940, appearing on "Cotton Tail". He considered Johnny Hodges, an alto saxophonist in the Ellington orchestra, a major influence on his playing.

Webster worked on 52nd Street in New York City, where he recorded frequently as a leader and sideman. During this time he worked with Raymond Scott, John Kirby, Bill DeArango, Sid Catlett, Jay McShann, and Jimmy Witherspoon. For a few months in 1948, he returned briefly to Ellington's orchestra. 

In 1953, he recorded The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster (now known as King of the Tenors) with pianist Oscar Peterson, who would be an important collaborator with Webster throughout the decade in his recordings for the various labels of Norman Granz. In 1956, he recorded an album with pianist  Art Tatum, supported by bassist Red Callender and drummer Bill Douglass.  Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist  Coleman Hawkins was recorded in 1957, along with Peterson, Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). The Hawkins and Webster recording saw the coming together of two giants of the tenor saxophone, who had first met back in Kansas City. 

In the late 1950s, he formed a quintet with Gerry Mulligan and played frequently at a club in Los Angeles called Renaissance. It was there that the Webster-Mulligan group backed up blues singer  Jimmy Witherspoon on an album recorded live for the Hi-Fi Jazz label. That same year, 1959, the quintet, with pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis, also recorded Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster for Verve Records. 

Webster worked steadily, but in late 1964 he moved to Europe, working with other expatriate American jazz musicians and local musicians. He played when he pleased during his last decade. He lived in London and several locations in Scandinavia for one year, followed by three years in Amsterdam, and made his last home in Copenhagen in 1969.

During the eight years Webster lived in Denmark, he lacked a manager or agent to take care of his artistic rights. In 1972, he joined Billy Moore Jr., arranger for Jimmie Lunceford, who clarified Webster's recording history to secure his royalties. Moore started the Ben Webster Foundation with the trustee of Webster's estate. Webster's sole legal heir, Harley Robinson of Los Angeles, gladly assigned his rights to the Foundation.