Swing and soul from Avid…
You could easily argue that Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert was the coronation of the Swing Era. Featuring not only Goodman’s famous orchestra that included Gene Krupa, Jess Stacy, Harry James and Ziggy Elman, but it also boasted the trio/quartet of Teddy Wilson/Krupa/Lionel Hampton with guests like Lester Young, Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney. Classics like “Don’t Be That Way” and of course the iconic “Sing Sing Sing” stand up amazingly well through the century. The added air checks include hard swingers like “King Porter Stomp” and the boogie woogied “Roll ‘Em”. How many people actually started a whole style of music?
Before “soul” music became popular, you had ladies belting out R&B. This two disc set has some proto-soul albums from the best. Lavern Baker’s 1960 release included the hot gospel themed “Saved” and the earthy “Bumble Bee” with backing by jazzers like Taft Jordan. Daughter of the funky chicken man Rufus, Carla Thomas had a teen hit with “Gee Whiz” but sounds quite grown up in her reading of standards lie “This Masquerade Is Over” . In 1962, church bred Aretha Franklin started going secular, and she sounds wonderful on pieces like “I Surrender Dear” and “Exactly Like You”. Considered by some to be the first Motown star, Mary Wells put the label on the map with this album that includes the mega hit “You Beat Me To The Punch”. Esther Phillips was still called “Little” when she put out this 1963 release, putting some grit into things like the C&W “Release Me” and hitting the ground hard on “Double Crossin’ Blues”. It’s ladies night!