You’re going to have to take this on faith, but at one time, jazz was America’s most popular music. And while you may argue if he invented it, you can’t argue that Benny Goodman was the most popular figure of The Swing Era, with not only the most polished white swing machine in the land, but boast the best musicians, including stars like Harry James, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Jess Stacy, Chris Griffin and Ziggy Elman. Not only that, but he had the pick of the litter with vocalists as well, including Helen Ward, Peggy Lee and Helen Forrest, along with guests Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey and Jimmy Rushing.
These two boxed sets, the first one a 4 disc, 94 song and the other being 3 disc of 60 tunes, represent the definition of “Swing”. What set Goodman apart were a couple of things: first, he took the arrangements of Fletcher Henderson and polished them up, turning them into signature pieces of his own. Secondly, his integrated small bands-trios, quarters and sextets with black artists Hampton, Wilson and the pioneering electric guitarist Charlie Christian and essentially defined the small group format.
Volume 1 has him in his early days, starting with the avuncular vocals of trombonist Jack Teagarden on pieces like “I Gotta Right To Sing the Blues”, with Teagarden sounding light years ahead of every other male singer in the early years. Likewise, Goodman’s solos and arrangements are like a thrown down gauntlet, leading into classic solos by trumpeter Bunny Berigan on “Bugle Call Rag” and “King Porter Stomp”. His first vocalist, Helen Ward, is marvelous and modern sounding as well on the early hit records like “Throwing Apples At The Sun”. His small group sessions include classic clarinet work on “China Boy” ,”The Man I Love” and “Moonglow”, while guest vocals from Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Rushing take form on “Goodnight My Love” and “He Ain’t Got Rhythm”, respectively. Vocal hits include “Loch Lomond” and “Bob White” while sublime arrangements of “I Want To Be Happy”, “Don’t Be That Way” and “Stompin’ At The Savoy” are as timeless as anything Mozart charted. And of course, you get the Swing anthem “Sing Sing Sing” that includes the clarion call of Krupa’s tom toms and Harry James’ crying trumpet. Whew!
Volume 2 packs just as big a punch, with Charlie Christian cruising with his guitar on an ultra cool “Soft Winds” in small group format and “Air Mail Special’ with a big band. Goodman’s arrangers got a bit more sophisticated as well, as on pieces such as “Gone With What Wind” and “Jersey Bounce”. Vocal pieces like “Perfidia” with Forrest or “Why Don’t You Do Right?” with Lee stand the test of time. Yes, it’s true that even though the rest of the musical world had “moved on” to bebop and beyond Goodman remained locked into the style of music he helped create, but so what? Did Mozart change his format? Why shouldn’t Goodman keep playing pieces like “I’ll Never Say “Never Again” Again” or “Wang Wang Blues” in the 1950s? As the song goes, why try to change him now? Goodman kept playing a winning hand, and it worked up until his last note. If you want to know how cool your grandparents really were, just give these discs a spin.