The Doug Webb Quartet: Sets the Standard - Doug Webb

Recorded in a single session on May 26, 2014 at Nolan Shaheed's studio in Pasadena, California, Sets the Standard pairs multi-reed player Doug Webb with pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist Putter Smith, and drummer Paul Kreibich for a program of standards and one original. Webb plays tenor, soprano, and stritch saxophone across the set, adopting a more relaxed, nuanced approach than his typically assertive style. Three tracks feature Webb and Broadbent as a duo — "Little Girl Blue," "Chelsea Bridge," and Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now" — where Broadbent's selective phrasing and Webb's melodic focus create intimate, chamber-like exchanges. The full quartet takes over on tracks like "Jitterbug Waltz" and "Trouble Is a Man," with Kreibich's brushwork and Smith's steady bass anchoring the group. The sole original, "These Things," is a contrafact whose silky, Paul Desmond-inflected lines connect head and improvisation seamlessly. Released on V.S.O.P. Records, the album was praised by All About Jazz for its resourcefulness and emotional depth, noting how Webb breathes fresh life into familiar material through subtle shifts in texture rather than virtuosic display.