The incredible momentum of the peak Benny Goodman Orchestra is on full display with these classic cuts from 1937 and 1938. In Harry James, Goodman had a bona fide trumpet star, one to spur him to great heights. The band meanwhile was honed to a fine edge and was the perfect vehicle to drive Fletcher Henderson's propulsive arrangements. Many of Goodman's most famous studio recordings appear on this collection: "I Want to Be Happy," "Sugarfoot Stomp," "Sing, Sing, Sing" (a Jimmy Mundy arrangement heard here six months before the legendary Carnegie Hall version), and a pair of cuts from Gene Krupa's final Goodman session, "Don't Be That Way" and "One O'Clock Jump." This is Goodman's big band at a commercial and artistic apex, and a brilliant example of its singular alchemy: that ability to sound both supremely rehearsed and spectacularly fresh simultaneously, which, not coincidentally, was also Goodman's greatest asset as a clarinet soloist. --Marc Greilsamer
The Harry James Years, Vol. 1,Benny Goodman & His Orchestra,RCA,Bandleader,Big Band,Big Bands,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Sweet Bands,Swing
Jazz Music:
- The Seven Steps to Heaven
- This Is Our Music [Original recording remastered] [Import]
- This Time Around
- What Now My Love [Import]
- Young Django [Import]
- Zulu
- 16 Big Band Hits, Vol. 2
- 4+1 Ensemble [Import]
- At the Concertgebouw [Import] [Original recording remastered]
- Back to Black
Jazz Music
Shooting at the Moon [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered] [Import]
Music: Serge Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante for Cello &
Something for the Boys/I'm Your Girl
Schubert String Quintet in C, D. 956