Customer Reviews

Verve Jazz Masters 33

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Oddly enough, I think that the best aspect of this CD is that these songs are NOT the songs that Goodman is most well known for. Because of this, Benny, in this live performance, did not have to bow to the demands of the "whiter" side of his audience who wanted a more popular sound instead of a sound that was artistically superior; i.e. jazz. While performing many standard tunes, Benny captures the flavor of jazz far more than in a greatest hits CD, and, in my opinion, sounds better for it.

As a Benny Goodman fan and collector since I was in elementary school, I can tell you that for most of my music collecting life, I only focused on Benny's prime period, the 30's to the early 50's. I practically ignored any of his later recordings (not counting his classical recordings in the 60's. For the intent of this review, I am only focusing on jazz.) I saw this disc used for cheap, so being a huge Benny fan, I bought it. Let me tell you that after hearing this, I am now TOTALLY much more interest in Benny's twilight years. The songs here are not the ones he's known for and that's a blessing. I'm tired of hearing the same things over and over again. The absolute gem of this disk is the wonderful version of the Stephen Sondheim tune "You Must Meet My Wife". I dare ANY jazz musician to capture the sheer brilliance and relaxed atmosphere of this arrangement. It is just superb. Practically all the songs are from the 40's except this one. And you can immediately tell that the composition is on a MUCH higher level of complexity than the other tunes. To hear Benny play the work of a contemporary composer is rare. Another gem is the ballad version of Please Be Kind. It is so smooth and relaxed that it can easily be said that this is one of the BEST versions of this song. The engineering is superb and you can hear Benny's full, throaty tone with sterling effect. So Benny fans that are skeptical of his later recordings, fear not. This is a wonderful compilation of the King of Swing's later recordings. Sound is wonderful and the liner notes are very good. Nice one to add to your collection.

This is one of my favorite Goodman albums. The CD sound quality is very good with great songs performed skillfully by Goodman in a more contemporary jazz tempo compared to his 1930 recordings. Highly recommended!

SOME tried to enjoy swing recordings of the 30s and early 40s, but the recording technology was the obstacle they couldn't overcome... Well THIS cd has it all: Benny Goodman playing at his highest level, with some older cats and with much younger players, but this time in nice stereo recordings (some live, some studio)...

All the tracks are from the 70s and the personell on this very much swinging and POSITIVELY BEAUTIFUL compillation is (just to give you an idea what to expect):

- Bill McGuffie (p), Bucky Pizzarelli, Louis Stewart (g),Lennie Bush (b), Bobby Orr (dm) - tracks 1, 2, 13

- Zoot Sims (ts), Peter Appleyard(vb), B. McGuffie (p), B. Pizzarelli (g), Hal Gaylor (b), Mousey Alexander (dm) - tracks 3, 5, 6, 16

- delete Sims and Appleyard - track 4

- a lovely arranged big band (including Jack Sheldon, Warren Vache, Buddy Tate, Frank Wess) - track 7

- Lionel Hampton (vb), John Bunch (p), Cal Collins (g), Michael Moore (b), Connie Kay (dm) - track 8

- C. Collins (g), Percy Heath (b), C. Kay (dm)- track 9

- Tommy Fay (p), Eddie Duran (g), M. Moore (b), C. Kay (dm)- track 10

- W. Vache (tp), J. Bunch (p), C. Collins (g), P. Heath (b), C. Kay (dm) - track 11

- add Scott Hamilton (ts) - track 12

- another nice big band - track 14

- W. Vache (tp), Wayne Andre (tb), B. Tate (ts), Mary Lou Williams (p), C. Colling (g), M. Moore (b), C. Kay (dm) - track 15

If you want to be convinced that Benny was a great clarinet artist, and hot jazz player, check this CD (Vache, Sims, Appleyard and others contribute some nice music as well, but it's a BG show...)