Published on Jan 5, 2000
Of all the musical genres that have failed to get coverage here
on “The Daily Vault,” one that is kind of surprising to me is that
we have done little, if any, reviews of big-band music. Admittedly,
there’s not a big collection of it in the halls of the Pierce
Memorial Archives, nor is it something I listen to on a daily
basis. But when I do get in the mood for it, I listen to it with a
passion, and hang on to every note of a music style that took
popular music of the time and merged it with the birth cries of
early American jazz.
One of the most famous bandleaders and performers from the
big-band era was Benny Goodman. At the time, Goodman was one of the
people who helped to legitimize what was then called “jazz” by
bringing it into areas of culture – areas which previously had
viewed such music as vulgar forms of expression. Although Goodman
died in 1986, his legacy is still felt today, and his music is kept
alive with numerous archival recordings.
One of these is
Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall – 1938 – Complete, the first
release of the entire show that Goodman and his numerous bands
performed on January 16, 1938. (The original, incomplete set was
first released in 1950.) To the afficionado of big-band or jazz,
this release will be equivalent to the Holy Grail; to anyone else,
it’s a nice educational piece, though at times it seems like a lot
to take in during one sitting.
To list all the artists who share a stage with Goodman
throughout this particular concert could stretch on for a few
paragraphs, and trying to keep up with who is joining or leaving
the stage for a certain setup requires a scorecard. So let it
suffice to say that other notables like Count Basie, Gene Krupa and
Lionel Hampton all share the spotlight at times. (Krupa turns in a
spectacular drum fill early on during “Don’t Be That Way,”
eliciting thunderous applause from the audience.)
The length of some of the pieces almost make me wonder why they
would have been included in the concert; both “When My Baby Smiles
At Me” and “Shine” don’t even clock in at a minute in length. Just
when you’d think the audience would really be getting into the
groove of the songs – wham! – they end.
The same can’t be said for the bulk of this release; Goodman and
crew allow enough time to musically stretch their legs throughout
the curse of the show. There were some times where I wish the
master volume had been boosted up, especially during a good portion
of “Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing)”, a song which should ring some
bells of familiarity with many people. Likewise, tracks such as “I
Got Rhythm,” “Blue Skies” and “One O’ Clock Jump” all allow the
listener to share in the pure joy that the music brought.
There are two difficult aspects to
Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall – 1938 – Complete. The first
is something that couldn’t be helped, and that is the overall sound
of the recordings. If anything, I know I should be thankful that we
can still hear a concert that was recorded over 60 years ago, but
some of the volume drops did tend to interfere with the enjoyment
of some pieces. Second, if you don’t eat, breathe and sleep this
kind of music, you might find two hours’ worth a bit hard to sit
through at a time. In the end, the investment of time is well worth
it, but sometimes I’ll even admit it seemed like things would go on
forever.
Still,
Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall – 1938 – Complete is an
interesting slice of America’s musical history – it captures the
moment that a previously taboo form of music gained public
acceptance. You don’t get a chance to hear such moments too often
in your life; we should be thankful that such a moment was captured
for history.