I Hear Benny Goodman & Arte Shaw [Import, Original recording remastered]

Buddy DeFranco | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Lonehill Jazz Spain
• ASIN: B000OLHFDK
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,513 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Don't Be That Way

2. After You've Gone

3. The Sheik of Araby

4. Flying Home

5. Soft Winds

6. Medley: Sweet Lorraine/Body and Soul/Memories of You

7. Limehouse Blues

8. Medley: Poor Butterfly/Where or When/These Foolish Things

9. Rose Room

10. Oh, Lady Be Good

Disc: 2

1. 'S Wonderful

2. My Heart Stood Still

3. Temptation

4. Night and Day

5. Keepin' Myself for You

6. Medley: It Could Happen to You/I Cover the Waterfront/Someone to Watch

7. Concerto for Clarinet

8. All the Things You Are

9. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise

10. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete "Plays Benny Goodman & Artie Shaw" Sessions,Vol.2, November 2, 2010

By 

D. Carleton "Chalumeau Chauvenist" (Lansing, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Hear Benny Goodman & Arte Shaw (Audio CD)

In late 1957, Buddy DeFranco went into the studio with the idea of paying tribute to the two clarinetists who had done so much to popularize the instrument, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. The result filled all of five LPs ("I Hear Goodman & Shaw", "Plays Benny Goodman", "Plays Artie Shaw", "Wholly Cats", "Closed Session".) All five are collected in their entireties on CD for the first time in two volumes. Volume One is half-Goodman, half Shaw, while volume two devotes an entire disc to each.
In the highly informative liner notes, Morton James states, "Thirty-five performances were recorded (including four medleys containing three songs each) in four extended sessions over four days and with two different groups..." The CD reproduces the entire sessions, rather than the LP sequence. One gets a clear sense of what an ambitious project this had been. Buddy and his All Stars pull it off admirably.
The booklet that comes with Volume 2 repeats the Morton James preview from Volume 1, and reproduces the original liner notes from four of the original LP releases. It should be noted that several of the players on these sessions had experience with either Goodman or Shaw's band. Barney Kessel (Shaw), Ray Linn (Goodman/Shaw), Georgie Auld (Goodman), and Don Fagerquist (Shaw).
Disc One is an homage to Goodman, "Don't Be That Way" one of Benny's earliest big band hits, and "After You've Gone" a small group staple. "The Sheik of Araby" gets a tom-tom intro before Buddy kicks in with the melody. "Flying Home", the longest track on the disc (7:51), takes off with all (Don Fagerquist -trumpet, Victor Feldman -vibes, Georgie Auld -tenor sax, Carl Perkins -piano, Barney Kessel -guitar, Leroy Vinnegar -bass, Stan Levy -drums) taking solo turns. "Soft Winds", as lesser know Goodman composition, receives a medium groove, clarinet featured nicely. The ballad medley (as in Volume One) flows well, a credit to Buddy's song choices. This one takes three Goodman small group classics ("Sweet Lorraine", "Body and Soul", "Memories of You"), lovingly transforming them to a single tapestry. Once again proving that ballads and the clarinet can combine to portray beauty without sacrificing the jazz element. "Limehouse Blues" swings straight out. Another ballad medley ("Poor Butterfly", "Where or When", "These Folish Things"), again from the small group repertoire, beautifully organized and played. "Rose Room" is an uptempo romp. "Oh Lady Be Good" swings at a surprisingly slow tempo, bringing the second Goodman session (10/30/57) and Disc One to a satisfying close. (Larry Bunker plays vibes and Bob Neal drums on the last two tracks.)
The opening strains of "'S Wonderful" echo the Ray Conniff arrangement which had been such a big hit for Artie Shaw and which Conniff later turned into his sugnature wordless vocal vith his Ray Conniff Singers, but soon segues into swinging improvisation from all (Ray Linn -trumpet, Barney Kessel -guitar, Joe Mondragon -bass, Milt Holland -drums, Jimmy Rowles -piano.) "My Heart Stood Still" gets the Gramercy Five treatment with Jimmy Rowles' harpsichord simulation giving the appropriate Guarnieri flavor. "Temptation" is given a haunting, if all-too-brief (2:32) reading. "Night and Day" gives a nod to Shaw's afinity for Cole Porter songs. It swings start to finish. "Keepin' Myself For You" lets Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, trade solos in a slower groove. Another ballad medley ("It Could Happen to You", "I Cover the Waterfront", "Someone to Watch Over Me") again has Buddy proving that the clarinet is capable of real beauty without sacrificing jazz. Shaw's "Concerto for Clarinet", devised as a showpiece for Shaw with his 1940 large orchestra with strings, has actually been taken seriously of late by classical players, but here, Buddy's small group rendition sounds largely improvised, the longest track (7:00) of the session. The date rounds out with full-length (not medley) ballad treatments of "All the Things You Are", "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", and "I Surrender Dear", leaving ample solo space for all.
The LP issue of "Buddy DeFranco Plays Artie Shaw" included three tracks which had been previously released. Thus room on this CD for a bonus track. "Tin Reed Blues", cut from the CD release of "Live Date!", is happily here to serve that purpose. This track poses a decades-long controversy. It contains an uncredited bass clarinet. It is my opinion that it is played by flutist Herbie Mann, but Bob Hardaway is listed on saxes, Mann on flute. At one point the bass clarinet is heard behind the clarinet solo. It is my understanding that Buddy did not himself pick up that instrument until Leonard Feather requested it for his "Blues Bag" session in the mid-1960s, and I doubt that Buddy would have allowed multi-tracking at that juncture (4/4/58) in his career. Neither the sax nor the flute is heard during the bass clarinet's appearance. I do not know if Hardaway ever used a bass clarinet, but Mann is known to have recorded with it during this period. The CD liner notes offer no new information in this regard. The track, however, is a welcome addition to this disc.
The set is an ambitious CD compilation of an ambitious set of sessions. It serves well Buddy's goal of paying tribute to both of the clarinet's most popular practitioners, as well as proving that the clarinet is more than capable of portraying true beauty and still be a full-throttle jazz vehicle. This set is highly recommended to anyone who thinks otherwise, and for all who just want to hear some great jazz.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally on CD, August 25, 2007

By 

John Titsworth (New Orleans, Louisiana) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Hear Benny Goodman & Arte Shaw (Audio CD)

When these recordings were made in the late 1950s, Buddy was accepted in jazz circles as "he man" on the clarinet. The tunes assembled on this 2-CD set prove that point. The arrangements, which are interesting variations on the original tunes by Goodman and Shaw, and musicianship are all top drawer by all involved. Instead of being tranfers from original master tape sessions, the material presented here is drawn from record albums. Occasionally a pop or scratch can be detected, but generally the sound is quite acceptable. Without Lonehill label these recordings would remain unavailable in the USA on CD.