This would seem a most unlikely combination: a black tenor sax giant, born in the Midwest and a veteran of the Duke Ellington orchestra, co-leading an album with a newly arrived young Middle European, then playing funky piano with Cannonball Adderley and later to gain fame as the key force in the highly popular fusion group Weather Report. In fact, it should be easy to understand: Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul, both part of the New York jazz scene of the early Sixties, were roommates for a while and recognized a vast musical compatibility, which is impressively expressed in this unique encounter. (It was Zawinul's first effort as a leader; for Webster, who soon moved to Europe and died there in 1973, it was his last in this country.)
Ben Webster (tenor sax), Joe Zawinul (piano), Thad Jones (cornet), Sam Jones (bass), Richard Davis (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).
Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, 1963.
Tracklist:
1. Too Late Now (6:27)
2. Soulmates (6:34)
3. Come Sunday (5:11)
4. The Governor (3:15)
5. Frog Legs (5:31)
6. Trav'lin' Light (6:10)
7. Like Someone In Love (3:47)
8. Evol Deklaw Ni (5:22)
Released 2000.