Two other additions to the band around this time [1940’s] were also of great importance. Ben Webster was really saying something on that tenor saxophone, and I thought it was a most fitting thing for us to do, to get him. We got him, and immediately the sax section became more mature, with a grip on getting-togetherness it had never had before.

Strays [Billy Strayhorn] and Ben almost forcibly drew my attention to Jimmy Blanton, who revolutionized bass playing, and meant a great deal to the band. All in all, when we went out to the [West] Coast at the beginning of 1941 we were in very good shape.