Ben Webster was one of the most important tenor saxophonists in jazz. He is forever associated with Duke Ellington, though in fact he only played with Ellington for four years--from 1940-43 and then in 1948-9. Early Ben Webster sounds a lot like Coleman Hawkins, but after joining Ellington, Webster came under the influence of Johnny Hodges and his style mellowed. Webster retained some of the Hawkins'inspired brusqueness and bluster, but combined it with a dose of Hodges' lyricism. His solos on Ellington's "All Too Soon" and "Cottontail" have become classics. Even though Webster spent only a few years with Ellington, he influenced the Ellington band permanently because the tenor players who came later, specifically Paul Gonsalves and Harold Ashby, developed styles that were much indebted to Webster.