The Ben Webster Quintet – Soulville [Mono] (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series Edition)

(AAA) — Lacquers cut from the original analog master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

New for 2024!

Ben Webster's Soulville (Mono)

Acoustic Sounds Series reissues from Verve/Universal Music Enterprises!

Monthly releases highlighting the world's most historic and best jazz records!

Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes

180-gram LPs pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jackets

Series supervised by Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds

"This is a gorgeous reissue of a gorgeous recording that is very hard to find in its original 1958 pressing. Teaming saxophonist Ben Webster with pianist Oscar Peterson was a stroke of production genius for the times. A sweet, swinging, and even sometimes bluesy session, Soulville is a relative bargain, an essential release for Webster aficionados or simply fans of rich, buttery tenor sax sounds in general. True to form, this Acoustic Sounds Series reissue is arguably much nicer and better-sounding than the original editions, presented in a lavish tip-on laminated gatefold cover (with lovely new pictures inside) and pressed on 180g dark black well-centered vinyl at Quality Record Pressing (QRP). This new Soulville is a gem." — Mark Smotroff, AnalogPlanet's Top LPs of 2024, Dec. 20, 2024. Read the entire review here.

"...enjoy the laminated 'Tip on' gatefold jacket and the two inner gatefold Burt Goldblatt Webster photos. Analogue Productions released this on a double 45rpm reissue 11 years ago (seems like yesterday) and its somewhat mellower sound works well with the material. The new 33 1/3 offers greater transient detail and image relief and you can remain seated. Unless getting up is now an issue, if you have the double 45 you're set." — Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 — Michael Fremer, TrackingAngle.com. Read the whole review here.

Soulville is quintessential Ben Webster: intimate, tender, endlessly expressive. Webster was internationally recognized as one of jazz's elder statesman when he recorded this album in 1957, but the youthful fire that had marked his playing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra two decades earlier was undiminished.

Soulville is easily the best of his albums for Verve, with Webster's breathy tones given a fitting accompaniment by Oscar Peterson and his group, then including bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Herb Ellis, and understated drummer Stan Levy. Leading this stellar combo through a program consisting mostly of vintage pop tunes, the great tenor saxophonist is at his peak. Versions of "Lover Come Back To Me" and "Makin' Whoopee" sound excellent, but bluesy originals such as "Last Date" and the title track are truly outstanding. A quality set from start to finish.

Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. in high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings.

(Above description from AcousticSounds.com)