Customer Reviews

The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings

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

 

 

Having owned earlier 78 and LP incarnations of these and the previous BMG/RCA CD set of Goodman's Small Group recordings, which I believe were derived from the much noisier French RCA Black-and-White transfers and contained the very skimpy "Jazz Tribune" liner notes, I really looked forward to this 3-CD box set. First of all, I should point out that this new release contains unissued alternate takes and recordings from sessions in 1937, 38 and 39 not included in the aforementioned "The Complete Small Combinations" 2-CD set. Moreover, the liner notes in this release are among the finest that I have ever seen and are replete with detailed discographical and session info. To top it all off, the photos and graphics work are rather tastefully done. Now for the negative... According to the reissue notes, the audio engineers went back to the original metal parts and test pressings from BMG's vaults to use as the source material for this set, substituting in transfers from carefully-preserved shellac copies from the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers when necessary. Naturally, I expected a significant improvement over the previous issues. The only improvement that I noticed was a marked reduction in surface noise and imperfections, confirming my hopes that they really used cleaner source material. However, it seems that the transfer engineers decided to process the sound way beyond what I consider to be acceptable. The result is a rather dull, hollow and distorted piano tone. Moreover, Krupa's and Tough's brushes are practically filtered out because of this overuse of the CEDAR denoising system. Oddly enough, Goodman's clarinet manages to come through quite clearly. Had the engineers taken a slightly less interventionist approach, I would be giving this release a full 5 stars. Simply put, they sacrificed too much of the music in an attempt to scrub away practically all of the surface noise. This leads me to wonder why BMG/RCA did not hire the services of transfer engineer extraordinaire Ward Marston for this project. After all, he was involved in their excellent Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Legendary Performers, and Rubinstein classical projects... Overall, I recommend this set with the one reservation about the overprocessed, overfiltered sound. As for the performances themselves, they are absolutely magical and ought to be mandatory listening for everyone interested in this musical genre. Enjoy!

This 3-CD, 67-track box set is the ultimate gift for that Benny Goodman combo fan you know or love. Most collections have some of these tunes, and some even have most of them, but the 20 alternate takes included here make this a real bargain. The 40-page illustrated booklet is the frosting on the cake. You'll get plenty of Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton and Gene Krupa on this, but you may be surprised to rediscover vocals by Helen Ward, Martha Tilton and Hampton along the way. An excellent example of what more record companies should be doing today!

I'm a huge Benny Goodman fan and this double album is atreasure trove. The alternate take to "Body and Soul" isbrilliant, almost (but not quite) as good as the standard album track. Teddy's piano playing here will knock you out. It was also a blast to hear the unreleased take of "Stompin' at the Savoy." All of these tracks showcase Benny's remarkable style and feel. Krupa also never sounded better, the remastering here really brings out the percussion. This album should not be recommended to someone just beginning to sample Benny Goodman. Only aficionado's would appreciate three different takes of "Tiger Rag," great as it is. A Benny neophyte would be better served by one of the standard "Greatest Hits" package. But if you've already got 50-100 CD's on Benny and are one of those who wants to hear it all, this fits the bill.

The music on this 3 CD set represents what I feel is Goodman's best work. This makes it so unfortunate that the sound quality of the CD is so thin and flat. The producers had some good source material so there is no excuse for the lack of fidelity in this set.
If one compares this set to something like the Decca Billie Holiday set, you have to wonder what went wrong with this CD.
Perhaps the producer had a phobia about surface noise and the engineer was forced to overprocess the music to death.
Even though I am unhappy with the sound quality of this BMG product, I would not be without it because the music is so good.

All I ask is, even though this is gold already, Where is the song "Rose Room?!" That was a wonderful song and was part of my introduction to Goodman. It also features the man whom Benny Goodman himself was quoted to have said that "his bands would not have been the same without." That man is the hugely infulential big band leader/arranger/pianist Fletcher Henderson(1897-1952) He played piano on the track Rose Room and I will agree with Goodman with what he said but I will also add that Goodman and Duke Ellington would have been lost without the influence of Henderson. For those of you who have no idea who Fletcher Henderson was, perhaps the fact that Louis Armstrong played cornet/trumpet for Henderson from the fall of 1924 to early 1925 will jog your memory. So those of you who are Satch enthusiasts can trace Pops to the great man called Fletcher. It sucks that a difference in labels because Rose Room was recorded for Columbia, this great song which features two titans of swing is left off. Still, essential collection though.

The interplay between this historic group (one of the first racially integrated groups in jazz) is superb. Somehow they strike a balance between precision and the looseness of jazz, creating swinging masterpieces in the process. Beautifully remastered, with Krupa's drums and Teddy Wilson's piano heard more clearly than ever before. Liner notes are excellent. Highly recommended to all jazz fans.

Yet another groundbreaking small group, Benny Goodman's small groups are really what sealed his legend. Goodman sounds so cool in this one and so does Lional Hampton on the vibes, Gene Krupa on drums, Teddy Wilson on piano, and John Kirby on bass, before he would strike out on his own and further influence small band jazz. Benny Goodman is just what his name says-GOOD MAN!