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Reviewed: Benny Goodman | Leonard Feather & Dick Hyman

Benny Goodman: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert (Avid AMSC 1459).

This two-CD set is a reissue of the original LP album, with most of CD2 containing 18 added  bonus tracks. For this prodigious and groundbreaking  concert, Goodman augmented his orchestra with several star guests on selected tracks. With a large and excited audience creating a highly charged atmosphere, the Goodman orchestra roars through One O’Clock Jump, a fired-up ride-out giving an early lift to the concert. In the tribute medley sequence, entitled Twenty Years Of Jazz, (covering the astonishing development from the ODJB to mature Ellington), Harry James (as Armstrong) Bobby Hackett (representing Bix) and Johnny Hodges (on soprano alongside Cootie Williams and Harry Carney) all contribute impressively.

The programme mixed popular big band showpieces with trios and quartets enhanced by the dazzling skills of Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton. Prominently recorded, Gene Krupa’s exuberantly driving drumming explodes behind upbeat arrangements, deploying incredible rhythmic fireworks in breakneck quartet versions of I Got Rhythm and China Boy. An extended jam session in Honeysuckle Rose features impressive solos from Lester Young and Hodges (alto this time), with Basie himself at piano, and Buck Clayton and Harry Carney also included.

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CD2 contains the concert masterpiece, Sing Sing Sing. The lengthy arrangement provides a perfect setting for Goodman’s exceptional technique and polished flow of ideas, as well as more exposure for the thunderously supportive Krupa. Harry James peaks with some powerful bravura trumpet, and Jess Stacey’s sensitive and understated backing contributes effective contrast.

The bonus tracks, following a couple from the concert not included on the LP, were originally included on a two-LP set entitled Jazz Concert No.2. They feature selected Goodman live radio performances from 1937-8. Popular band hits are performed in condensed, powerhouse style (Bugle Call Rag, King Porter Stomp, Ridin’ High, Roll ’Em). Hampton sparkles in quartet versions of Runnin’ Wild and I’ve Found A New Baby, and Teddy Wilson is classily elegant in trio versions of Nice Work If You Can Get It and Have You Met Miss Jones.

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My only caveat is the absurdly miniaturised reprint of the original LP notes! Have a magnifying glass handy. In every other way, a welcome reissue of a landmark recording capturing live classic 30s swing at its very finest.

Leonard Feather And Dick Hyman With His East Coast All Stars (Fresh Sounds Records FSR-CD1152)

In 1956 Leonard Feather (well-known critic, pianist, composer, arranger and producer) collaborated with the versatile pianist Dick Hyman (likewise a talented composer and arranger) in organising a number of “All Star” LP albums. The first four tracks on this CD compilation are from an LP titled West Coast Vs. East Coast (MGM E3390). They feature a sextet with Basie’s star soloists Thad Jones, Frank Wess and Benny Powell as the front line. Dick Hyman and Osie Johnson are joined in the rhythm section by Oscar Pettiford, the bop pioneer and former Ellington featured bassist. The well-crafted arrangements, performed with relaxed and precise cohesion, are interspersed with expressive and interesting solos.

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The following Hi-Fi Suite contains seven tracks from the original LP (MGM  E3494) of the same title, recorded over two sessions with two different nine-piece groups. Joe Newman replaces Thad Jones in this first session. Co-written by Feather and Hyman, the album is very 50s in theme but ambitious in style and arrangement: pitch range and sonic and tonal texture are varied to match the themed title of each track – such as Feed Back Fugue, Tweeter, Woofer, Bass Reflex, Reverberation. The varied instrumentation ranges from tuba to piccolo, with the reeds prominent in the specifically arranged “soundscapes”.

The final track, Keep It Simple, is from a 1958 album (MGM E3650) which covers the Broadway musical Oh, Captain!. Hyman’s arrangement features a sequence of solos in the octet, which includes Art Farmer, Tony Scott, Sahib Shihab, Jerome Richardson and Jimmy Cleveland.

This very enjoyable and interesting CD features some of the most talented and creative jazz musicians of the day, responding expressively to the thoughtfully prepared setting of Feather’s and Hyman’s arrangements.

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