Webb City is a bebop instrumental composed by the pianist Bud Powell, who is its sole credited writer. It was first recorded on 6 September 1946 in New York City by The Be Bop Boys, a group linked to Fats Navarro and Gil Fuller's Modernists, with Powell on piano. The personnel includes Kenny Dorham and Fats Navarro on trumpet, Sonny Stitt on alto saxophone, Morris Lane on tenor saxophone, Eddie De Verteuil on baritone saxophone, Al Hall on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, with Gil Fuller as arranger.
Powell named the tune not after the Missouri town but after the pre-bebop trumpeter Freddie Webster. It is among Powell's best-known titles, alongside Bouncing With Bud, Un Poco Loco, Dance of the Infidels and Celia. Later recordings include those by Johnny Dankworth (1951), Art Pepper (1957), Tommy Turrentine (1960), Barry Harris (1967), Sonny Stitt (1972), Art Blakey (1981), Phil Woods (1984) and Jan Lundgren (1996). Its melodic phrases are studied as part of the bebop style of Powell's early work.
