[Today: Ben Webster sparks a blue flame...]
It’s deserving of recognition for the title alone, but Atmosphere For Lovers And Thieves has much more going for it than just a catchy handle. As one might justifiably expect, the sound that comes pouring out of the album’s grooves is two parts sultry and one part blue smoke. The music moves at a slow purr throughout – lovers and thieves can’t afford to be hurried, after all.
Ben Webster was 56 years old when these sessions took place (1965), but he plays with the smoldering intensity of a man half that age. Webster tended to round the edge off the notes that spilled from his saxophone, but here his sound goes well beyond laid back and into sensual. He plays with the slightest slur that signifies intoxication, but not sloppiness.
Pianist Kenny Drew and band provide a solid framework that Webster burns down time and again. Album opener ‘Blue Light’ and standard ‘Stardust’ are two highlights, but all of Atmosphere For Lovers And Thieves sounds like half past closing time inside a club in the best part of town.
The music backs up the fantastic style of the album’s come-hither title, conjuring visions of cat burglars and playboys and reckless power brokers. Listen in as they ply their nefarious trades in the deepest smoke-filled corners of the universe, throughout the dead of night. Lovers and thieves work best in hushed tones, long after dark, and so does Ben Webster.
Listen: Blue Light
22 January 2008 at 11:03 am |
You turned me on to Ben Webster in your discussion of Soulville. Until I find it on vinyl, Atmosphere for Lovers and Thieves is my favorite. Makes me feel like I need a smoke and a dirty martini.
8 March 2008 at 1:08 pm |
I have the record already for 20 years, still one of my favourites of Ben Webster. It is re-issued on CD (little different order of numbers and some added) as Ben Webster In Copenhagen, label Jazz Colors, Ean 4002587473921
Enjoy
(I hardly turn vinyl anymore so if there is someone interested in my lp……)
19 January 2009 at 6:23 pm |
Yeh, one of the best Ben Webster records. I’ve posted some Ben Webster and jazz video clips on my blog, feel free to visit.
12 July 2009 at 3:08 am |
Yo coy uno de los afortunados que conservo ésta joya de disco y gozo de “Blue Light” frecuentemente.
23 October 2009 at 8:00 pm |
[...] Notes: Recorded at Metronome Studios, Copenhagen, september 1965 Release date unknown, side A has “Stemra” printed on label, side B “Stemra/Chappell”. Take a look also HERE. [...]
18 November 2009 at 12:18 pm |
[...] ago, I wrote about Ben Webster’s sublimely named album, Atmosphere For Lovers And Thieves. That blog post has received a inordinate number of hits and comments for a review of an obscure jazz [...]