SwingDJs

There are way too many Benny Goodman CDs out there... it's hard to find what's good and what's better. The library here has a copy of the complete Charlie Christian Benny Goodman sessions in that cute new 4-cd box set... it's great but there's only 1 1/2 CDs worth of master takes and a ton of alterates. But it's all first-class swing, and if you can find those tracks I highly recommend it. I was reading a critic from the 1960's who said Benny couldn't swing and I see his point with some of the big band and later work, but early small group Benny -- come on, the dude's a monster!

Anyway, I'd like some suggestions vis-a-vis Benny Goodman trio, quartet, anything with Cootie Williams*, etc. non-Charlie stuff.

-y.c.

*(on a side note, I was reading about Cootie Williams and when he left Duke Ellington ... some people were saying that he just walked out one day leaving Duke behind but actually what happened is Duke helped him get a good contract with the Benny Goodman group and they parted on the best of terms... this is reason #456013 that Duke Ellington is the MAN!)

I have the 4-CD Benny Goodman boxed set, put out by JSP. The third CD features the small groups. I enjoy many of the tracks from this set, and my favorites from the third CD are "How High the Moon," "Hi-Ya, Sophia" (well over 250 BPM, I believe), and "Moonglow." Overall, the sound quality of the set is pretty high.

ah, it's good to hear something about that set -- i can't find info anywhere beyond a bare track listing. so it's thematically organized? what are the other CDs?

CD "A" is called "The Instrumental Hits" - I don't think there are even minor vocals on that CD.

"B" is called "Sing, Sing, Sing" - all songs have vocals, I believe. Vocalists include Peggy Lee and Helen Forrest. One track each with Billie (about 160BPM!), Ella, and Jimmy Rushing. A couple of tracks with Fred Astaire.

"C" is called "The Small Groups" - a lot of stuff I like on this one, including "Vibraphone Blues" with Lionel Hampton singing. If I remember correctly, many of the tracks are rather fast.

"D" is called "All the Cats Join In" - my favorite tracks are "T'Aint No Use" with Benny Goodman on vocals, and "Superman."

Overall, it's a nice set; pretty high sound quality, and a wide range in tempo and style. Liner notes are sparse. It's a JSP set, so whatever you expect of them is probably pretty accurate. I'm very happy with it.

I have these if you want to listen to them sometime, Yakov.

-FF

Yakov wrote:Anyway, I'd like some suggestions vis-a-vis Benny Goodman trio, quartet, anything with Cootie Williams*, etc. non-Charlie stuff.

It's not trio, but still small group:

Benny Goodman Sextet, Slipped Disc (1945-46)

this set is also available through emusic.

CafeSavoy wrote:

Yakov wrote:Anyway, I'd like some suggestions vis-a-vis Benny Goodman trio, quartet, anything with Cootie Williams*, etc. non-Charlie stuff.

It's not trio, but still small group:

Benny Goodman Sextet, Slipped Disc (1945-46)

This is a great disc and worth tracking down. It's out of print.