Customer Reviews

1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD set by AVID is the best remastering of this amazing concert ever! I have all other versions available on CD including the best-selling one remastered by Phil Schapp (which is so shrill and crackly that it is unlistenable). This is the set to buy. Moreover, the other reviewers here who complain about pops and cracks are clearly referring to other CDs (they are rating the wrong product).

This CD set is free of nearly all pops and cracks, yet it is not muffled like some other versions. Finally, as a BOUNS, AVID includes a number of rare Goodman sides from 1945-47. This is a fantstic deal, as are all the other Jazz offerings from AVID.

I agree with review below that this is the best remastering of this legendary concert. The Columbia release is the most sold, but this has equivalent sound without any of the loud crackles heard on the Columbia remastering. Brilliant work by the Avid sound engineer! This Avid release should now be considered the definitive remastering of this indispensable concert.

It pains me to give less than 5 stars to this monumental recording, but the background noises compromise it just a trifle. I've listened to this 1938 Carnegie Hall concert since I was a kid on vinyl, and the vinyl versions, produced in the 60's and 70's, are superior in sound quality to this. I'm no expert on modern musical technology, but there must be a way to eliminate some of the annoying buzz in the background.

Now, having dispensed with this criticism, the music played on this date is astonishing. Here are the definitive Goodman versions of three of his classic tracks, "Sing, Sing, Sing," "One O'Clock Jump" and the incomparable "Don't Be That Way." This last song is average in the studio-recorded Bluebird version, but this live song is enlivened by some of Krupa's greatest bass beats. This will have you jumpin' out of your seat, guaranteed!

Benny's band was at its apex here and it shows. All too soon, both Gene Krupa and Harry James would be leaving the band. I recommend this disc as an essential popular recording of the 20th century, but beware of the background hiss throughout.

James Lincoln Collier wrote in his book, Benny Goodman and the Swing Era, "...almost as an afterthought, the concert was recorded. There was, then, no tape recording, and making records in concert halls and nightclubs was far more difficult than it is today... According to the generally accepted story, Albert Marx, who had recently married Helen Ward, decided 'on his own initiative' to have the concert piped from a single overhead microphone to a nearby studio where acetate recordings were cut... One set of acetates was presented to the Library of Congress, and Goodman was given another set. It lay in a closet of his New York apartment for twelve years, and was only discovered when his sister-in-law Rachael Speiden took over his apartment and found them. By then tape was available. Goodman had the concert transfered, and in November 1950, Columbia Records issued it with the jam session reduced by half and two tunes, 'Sometimes I'm Happy' and 'If Dreams Come True. ' omitted because they were badly recorded..."

THIS IS THE CD SET TO BUY! The difference between this cd set and ANY others is like night and day.The Columbia/Sony 2 cd set has terrible noise on every song,making it VERY FATIGUING to listen to.This 3 cd set by Avid has much,much better sound quality.These Avid cd's are now out of print,but the music can be downloaded from Itunes and burned onto a cd.This would be much more preferable than possessing a cd set that is a PAIN to listen to.If you like Benny Goodman you will enjoy listening to him on the Avid Records set.

It pains me to give less than 5 stars to this monumental recording, but the background noises compromise it just a trifle. I've listened to this 1938 Carnegie Hall concert since I was a kid on vinyl, and the vinyl versions, produced in the 60's and 70's, are superior in sound quality to this. I'm no expert on modern musical technology, but there must be a way to eliminate some of the annoying buzz in the background.

Now, having dispensed with this criticism, the music played on this date is astonishing. Here are the definitive Goodman versions of three of his classic tracks, "Sing, Sing, Sing," "One O'Clock Jump" and the incomparable "Don't Be That Way." This last song is average in the studio-recorded Bluebird version, but this live song is enlivened by some of Krupa's greatest bass beats. This will have you jumpin' out of your seat, guaranteed!

Benny's band was at its apex here and it shows. All too soon, both Gene Krupa and Harry James would be leaving the band. I recommend this disc as an essential popular recording of the 20th century, but beware of the background hiss throughout.

If you don't care about listening to a concert version of the songs, then skip this CD set and buy CDs that have studio recordings. The sound quality leaves a LOT to be desired.