The title and tagline on this new disc seeks to delineate its chief intended deviation from the usual tribute album treacle. Saxophonist Bob Rockwell, a guy who’s been plying his trade on tenor for going on four decades with a rich discography to show for it, translates his own tone and style to the burnished vernacular of Ben Webster. His intention: to offer a “salute” rather than rote homage. The point isn’t so much to ape a swing-era icon as it is to casually comment on his esteemed persona through a songbook of associative standards. The preparations for the session were a bit more exacting than the low-key results might imply. Rockwell gathered original charts for a dozen tunes and grafted Webster’s vintage keys, tempoes and chord substitutions onto each piece. Even amidst these picayunish premeditations, he retains his own voice, delicately shading it with sly Websterian inflections that sustain a fuzzy cerulean feel for the entire hour, but largely downplaying the obvious emblematic rasp.
Midwestern ties run deep with the project as well. Madison-based pianist Ben Sidran leads a rhythm section composed of son Leo on drums and Minneapolitan Billy Peterson handling bass. I lived in Madison for a stretch in the late 90s and caught the elder Sidran several times in person, on each occasion finding him to be an irritating blowhard and showboater. Here he sidles back and settles into a deferential role at the ivories without stepping on toes. His restraint is a welcome agent in revising my previously pessimistic opinion of his playing. Peterson is also inobstrusively relaxed, filling the cracks with a quiet harmonic epoxy and stepping up for the occasional mellow-fingered solo. Both know that it’s Rockwell’s show and the leader’s big satiny horn sits in a position of prominence for most of the disc’s duration.
The opening “Prelude for Ben” is the set’s only original, a quietly unfurling, unassuming ballad where the younger Sidran’s barely perceptible brushes beautifully complement the leader’s gently laconic horn. “Bye Bye Blackbird” rolls out with a similar laidback attention to elegance and space. On “This Can’t Be Love” the four trade in bouyant bluesy swing and the Webster original “Bounce Blues” operates off a similarly rotund groove, featuring some Rockwell’s most aggressive playing in a soulful Stanley Turrentine mode. The real danger here is too many detours into mollifying romance and sentiment, but Rockwell pilots his ensemble with a sure horn, balancing overarching amorous intimations with an underlying attention to earthy nuance and swing. My one complaint: the omission of “Chelsea Bridge” from the menu, a proper Ben Webster party hardly seems complete without it. This is definitely not the disc to spin to spur adrenalin or goose the senses. It’s better suited to that special candlelit culinary encounter behind closed doors. And while there’s no way to tell, I’m betting Big Ben would have been pleased by the spotlight treatment Rockwell and company accords his indelible memory.
~ Derek Taylor
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