‘Ben Webster & Associates’: Ben Webster’s Star-Studded Swing Session

‘Ben Webster & Associates’: Ben Webster’s Star-Studded Swing Session

In 1959, Ben Webster traveled to New York for a recording session under the supervision of jazz impresario Norman Granz. The day before going to the studio, he bumped into Budd Johnson, an old friend and fellow saxophonist, at Beefsteak Charlie’s, an off-Broadway bar and grill. Webster explained that tenor saxophone pioneer Coleman Hawkins was booked for the session before asking Johnson if he might be free as well. Out of that chance meeting, B…