Ben Webster

"So effective was he with his fists that they called him "The Brute". Then you heard him play, and his opulent, breathy tenor saxophone sang of tenderness, loneliness and romance. In the yawning chasm between these extremes lies that fact that big, mean drunks can also be gentle giants. And, eventually, music, age and, yes, booze all blunted Ben Webster's belligerence completely." John Shand 2020