The Complete Legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert (2 Cd Set)

Benny Goodman

One of the most famous jazz concerts of all time is presented here in its entirety on this 2CD set, as a bonus, the complete Benny Goodman January 18, 1938 radio broadcast, recorded only two days after the great event.

Carnegie Hall was one of the main American stages for classical music since shortly after its inception. It was also one of the first main American stages to open its doors to black artists. Although it was more of a march than a jazz band in the way we look at it now, Carnegie Hall presented a concert by the Afro-American formation James Reese Europe and his Clef Orchestra, labeled as a “Concert of Negro Music” as early as May 2, 1912. However, the real breakthrough occurred in 1938, when jazz –a style which many considered inferior to classical music– gained mainstream recognition as a result of the January 16 Carnegie Hall concert featuring Benny Goodman with his orchestra, trio, quartet and guests. It was also one of the first interracial concerts on an important stage, for among the guests were Count Basie and his orchestra with Lester Young, and Goodman’s small group included Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton.

This edition presents Benny Goodman’s complete Carnegie Hall concert, including two tunes ('Sometimes I’m Happy' and 'If Dreams Come True') left off of the original LP release and the complete jam session on 'Honeysuckle Rose', which had been originally released in an edited form. As a bonus, the current edition also includes the complete 'Camel Caravan' broadcast recorded on January 18, 1938, two days after the Carnegie Hall Concert (while the impact of that event was still fresh in the minds of the musicians).

This Carnegie Hall concert was a landmark for many reasons: it was the first jazz concert at the prestigious venue; it integrated white and Afro-American stars on the same stage; and, above all, it produced glorious music which hasn’t lost its magic after 70 years.


Tracklisting:

CD 1
-Orchestra:
01. Don’t Be That Way
02. Sometimes I’m Happy
03. One O’clock Jump
-'Twenty Years of Jazz':
04. Sensation Rag
05. I’m Coming Virginia
06. When My Baby Smiles at Me
07. Shine
08. Blue Reverie
-Orchestra:
09. Life Goes to a Party
10. Honeysuckle Rose [Jam Session]
-Small Groups:
11. Body & Soul
12. Avalon
13. The Man I Love
14. I Got Rhythm

Total time: 62:28 min.

CD 2
-Orchestra:
01. Blue Skies
02. Loch Lomond
03. Blue Room
04. Swingtime in the Rockies
05. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
-Small Groups:
06. China Boy
07. Stompin’ at the Savoy
08. Dizzy Spells
-Orchestra:
09. Sing Sing Sing
10. If Dreams Come True
11. Big John’s Special
12. Let’s Dance (*) Bonus Track
13. Make Believe (*) Bonus Track
14. Introduction (*) Bonus Track
15. Don’t Be That Way (*) Bonus Track
-Benny Goodman with the Coolidge String Quartet:
16. First Movement From Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major
-Small Group:
17. Honeysuckle Rose
-Orchestra:
18. Introduction
19. Mama, That Moon Is Here Again

Total time: 77:41 min.


CD 1 & CD 2, tracks #1-11: The Carnegie Hall Concert.
New York, January 16, 1938.

CD 2, tracks #12-19: The complete January 18, 1938 "Camel Caravan" Radio Show.


The personnel (one of the greatest line-ups ever) included : Lester Young, Johnny Hodges, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Buck Clayton, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Cootie Williams, Harry James, Bobby Hackett, Harry Carney, Jess Stacy, Freddie Green, Allen Reuss, Harry Goodman, Walter Page and Babe Russin.


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Notes:

"Benny Goodman's January 16, 1938, Carnegie Hall concert is considered the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's "coming out" party to the world of "respectable" music, held right in that throne room of musical respectability, Carnegie Hall. [...] For this reissue producer has rescued "Sometimes I'm Happy," the show's original second number, and "If Dreams Come True," its original first encore, along with the unedited version of "Honeysuckle Rose" (with Harry Carney in a two-chorus baritone sax solo and Buck Clayton's three-chorus trumpet solo), all previously lost. The detail is startling, with soloists who are more up close than ever and even details from the audience reactions. Gene Krupa's drums have an extraordinary richness of tone, and the whole rhythm section finally gets its due as well, even Freddie Green's rhythm guitar solo during "Honeysuckle Rose," which is gloriously enhanced."

Bruce Eder -All Music Guide

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