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CD Review: Benny Goodman - The Small Groups 

Label: Living Era, CD AJA 5144
Partial Personnel: Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian, Count Basie, Cootie Williams, Mel Powell, Peggy Lee, Lou McGarity

The recordings on this CD are among the best ever made by Benny Goodman. As a jazz clarinetist, he had no equal and these recordings prove it. Goodman was one of the Chicago jazz pioneers of the '20s who passed through the rough and tumble of that scene untouched by its destructive elements. He was, however, very much the beneficiary of its rich musical ferment.

Most musicians and experts agree that the Goodman Quartet's performance of The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise on this CD is one of the great recordings of jazz. It simply blazes from start to finish and is, alone, worth the price of the CD. I remember, as a teenager, when this 78 rpm record hit the juke boxes and just amazed everyone who heard it.

Interestingly, the same group, with Lou McGarity's dixieish trombone added, fires up a swinging exploration of Wang Wang Blues, Limehouse Blues, If I Had You, and Peggy Lee's delightful vocal, On The Sunny Side Of The Street, one of her very best on record.

None of this is to minimize the excellence of the other Goodman combos; however this collection of 25 pieces, show how small group swing evolved in the 40s, very much under the Goodman influence. The later renderings are a bit hipper; the earlier ones more joyful; all are superb. Benny Goodman was so good that it is easy to take him for granted. One hearing of this CD will cure that!                        

- Bob Sparkman

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