Benny Waters stayed active on the jazz scene until his passing at the age of 96, at which point he ranked as the second-oldest working musician in the idiom after Eubie Blake, who reached 100. His commanding alto saxophone work would have seemed striking even in a player of 50. His professional timeline traced nearly the full span of recorded jazz, yet he never rose to major prominence. Between 1918 and 1921 he performed with Charlie Miller, later attended the New England Conservatory and took up teaching; one pupil was Harry Carney. From 1925 to 1932 he played, wrote arrangements, and recorded with the under-recognized Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten, a band that at one stage also featured Benny Carter and Jabbo Smith. During those years he concentrated chiefly on tenor saxophone and turned to clarinet only occasionally, absorbing some influence from Coleman Hawkins, while also participating in sessions with Clarence Williams and King Oliver. In the two following decades he appeared in ensembles led by Fletcher Henderson for several months, Hot Lips Page, Claude Hopkins, and Jimmie Lunceford. He directed his own group for part of the 1940s, performed in Roy Milton's R&B unit, and sailed to France in 1949 with Jimmy Archey's Dixieland band. Waters made Paris his permanent base and maintained steady employment there, though he remained largely overlooked in the United States. During the 1980s he returned to America with increasing frequency, and he played in outstanding form on a 1987 Muse quartet date that found him on tenor, alto, and clarinet while also contributing capable vocals. Shortly afterward he lost his sight and thereafter confined himself to alto saxophone, employing a jump approach akin to that of Tab Smith while displaying occasional traces of John Coltrane's influence. Waters sustained an uncommon level of vitality in both recording and live performance, joining the Statesmen of Jazz tour in 1995 and producing remarkable music until his death on August 11, 1998.
