Klarinet Archive - Posting 000284.txt from 1996/02
From: thehat@-----.ORG Subj: Benny Goodman Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 15:24:05 -0500
I have recently four cds of Benny Goodman's commercial recordings from the
30s and 40s. Most people of my generation know BG's playing mostly through
later big-band recordings because for a while, those were the most easily
available. I remember being given a 10" lp copy of some of the selections on
the cds I just purchased. At some point it had sold for $65!
The problem with the later recordings is the impression that the performances
are of old music. With these rereleases, the music was the up-to-date hottest
thing. The performances are by the leading musicians in the business, and it
shows. Benny is shown to be one of the most brilliant Jazz artists of all
time, an impression that could be missed by only hearing his later big-bands.
Three of the cds are on Columbia Jazz Masters, they all feature the Benny
Goodman Sextet. "The Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian" features
about an hour of sides which include the legendary electric guitar master.
The disc is chamber music, in its purest sense. It also features a few tracks
with the great Cootie Williams, who was most famous for his years with
Ellington. Remeber, Benny's was the only mixed-race combo for many years,
another reason he was so inportant. "BG, Small Groups 1941-1945" f eatures
the group after the unfortunate death of Charlie Christian (only in his early
20s) but nonetheless features much inspired playing. "Slipped Disc" features
a blazing rendition of the title track, which reminds us that the back
condition with which Benny was afflicted left him in constant pain for the
rest of his life. He had to wear a kind of harness and needed to perform
using a bass stool. The last disc features the Bassist Slam Stewart on many
tracks. If you've never heard him, you simply must.
The last disc is perhaps the most interesting. It is on Capitol Jazz.
"Undercurrent Blues" features Benny's short foray into modern Jazz. He had
sessions with great Beboppers, including (sadly only) one track with Fats
Navarro. Why Benny stopped playing bebop and modern Jazz is unknown to me,
and I consider it unfortunate, because it possibly caused the clarinet to
fall out of favor in the idiom. Benny plays quite well on this disc (Downbeat
gave this rerelease 5 stars). Several tracks have never been released before,
making it an extremely improtant addition to BGs discography.
These titles should all be easily available at a good record store, and are
all mid-price (on sale for $8.99 each at Tower last week). Happy listening!
David Hattner
Clarinetist-at large, NYC
-> Alice4Mac 2.4.4 E QWK Eval:04Feb96
Origin: Alice strikes back =
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