Customer Reviews

Music Master

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Benny Carter was born in 1907 and died in 2003, after an active career in jazz that spanned eight decades. That has provided a wealth of material to draw on for this 4-CD set, which spans his earlier years, from 1930 to 1952. As a reference guide to his career progression, from the Chocolate Dandies, Spike Hughes Negro Orchestra, the London and Continental sessions, thence back to pre and postwar America, it is hard to see how this compilation could be bettered.

Throughout, Benny Carter's sophisticated and elegant approach is on display, which marked him out early on as one of the supreme stylists, particularly on the alto saxophone, although his talents encompassed also trumpet, clarinet, trombone, tenor sax, and piano. The set is rounded out in Proper Box fashion with a 52-page illustrated booklet by the indefatigable Joop Visser.

People at Proper make fabulous box sets. This one is a very good one. Sound is good, performances are top notch...at that price, it's a bargain.

I purchased this Proper box set because I had enjoyed other Proper box sets featuring Chick Webb, Jack Teagarden, and Coleman Hawkins. As those of you who have bought any Proper box sets, they are great bargains, usually having 4 CDs with a terrific 50 page booklet and also have great sound after the original (usually early) sources are digitally processed. I think the Benny Carter set might be my favorite set so far, although I really love the Coleman Hawkins set too.

I did not really know much about Benny Carter beyond his name and was very impressed to learn that he was an excellent soloist on so many instruments and also an excellent arranger and composer. This collection is outstanding from beginning to end including swinging and stomping hot numbers and very beautiful, slow-tempo ballads.

This collection is particularly enjoyable because it contains relatively few tracks with vocals, letting you really enjoy Benny and the other great instrumentalists. It's not that I don't like jazz singers; but the ones featured on other jazz collections dedicated to instrumentalists or big band leaders are not usually as good as the best Jazz singers like Ella Fitzgerald and the songs they sing are not necessarily that great. When I buy a collection from a great saxophonist or trombonist, I'd rather hear them, not the singers who they played with.

it was easy for me to pigeonhole Carter when I was learning about jazz. He was not Johnny Hodges, not Charlie Parker, not a swing tenor (my favorite species). I took his reputation for granted, and didn't really get what the reality was. The shift started several years ago when I first acquired "April in my Heart" by Billie Holiday and an unbelievable group -- Lester Young AND Hershal Evans, Harry James. But it starts with a classic Carter solo. So from there I went to the Carter I already had, and then to this box set. Like all the other Proper sets I have (12 in total -- so far), this is priced right, fully annotated, and fabulous, in a word.