Customer Reviews

The Live at the International World Exhibition Brussels: Unissued Recordings

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This was originally available as a two-LP pair (not a box set) issued after the Goodman band played at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair in the US pavilion. The album doesn't indicate the considerable behind-the-scenes thrashing that went on, and this recording is the only real souvenir of the performances there. There's some very good work by Goodman's sidemen (such as Roland Hanna) and Jimmy Rushing provides some interesting vocals, but overall the recording seems a little flat. "Roll 'Em" is about the only track across the two discs that really catches fire... with all the other tracks it's clear it's basically Goodman with a mostly pick-up band. It's worth having as the best look at his work in those days, several years before some of the truly awful LPs like "Hello Benny!" and that one where he records "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life." But it's not the best work they could have done.

This was the first jazz album I ever owned, which my stepmother's friend gave me when I was 10 - and while the previous reviewer mentions a double album set, my LP (Westinghouse Broadcasting) only had the same tracks that are on the CD:

One O'Clock Jump
Balkan Mixed Grill
Avalon
Poor Butterfly
You're Driving me Crazy
Bugle Call Rag
Mean to Me
King Porter Stomp
Sing Sing Sing.

The rhythm section swings hard - Arvel Shaw, Roy Burns, Billy Bauer and Rolland Hanna provide a solid feel - Rolland Hanna's solos add a more modern, be-bop sound, which is nice - we have a transitional band here, recorded in 1958, with roots in the swing era but influenced a bit by more modern styles as well.

While it may be a pick up band, the playing is fairly tight, and with a fairly all star band, including Zoot Sims in the sax section, the soloing and ensemble work is quite good.