Tenor Saxophonist and composer Michael Webster manages to reside comfortably in the crease of New-York-style instrumental improvisational music while maintaining an eclecticism and sincerity all his own. He is not merely a musician but a facilitator of musical collaborations in whole greater than the sum of their parts – he truly plays not only the horn, but the band. 

In 2006 Webster released his first solo album, Leading Lines, which featured Grammy-winning bassist John Benitez, and drew heavily on Latin Jazz influences. Of Leading Lines, pianist Garry Dial wrote, “the orchestrations are exquisite. The use of strings, woodwinds and brass evokes the genius of Gil Evans and Maria Schneider.”

2011 saw Webster beginning to lead a small ensemble, the Michael Webster Quintet, in performance at venues around New York with famed Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen in an incarnation that eventually recorded Momentus at Systems Two studios in Brooklyn. WNYC's Soundcheck featured the band in its Gig Alert segment as the top gig to hear in NYC on Nov 2, 2011.

Momentus is notable as a departure from the genre-based music of Leading Lines, into stream-of-consciousness storytelling and ambitious long-form explorations. What will likely endear this album to casual listeners and critics alike, though, is the strength and clarity of its thematic material. Central to Webster's work, and lending it a universality and catharsis transcendent of its instrumental setting, is the feeling that the tune has absolute primacy.

Webster lives in Brooklyn, New York, and continues to compose, perform and tour with both his own groups and as a sideman.