Jump to content

Any News On The Goodman?


Recommended Posts

16 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Scott just confirmed this to me a little while ago as well.  I'll have a bit more about Mosaic in a Night Lights post going up soon.

Thanks for the NL post.  Well-written, to the point, and believable.  It didn't occur to me that the Benedetti box has been around 30 years!  Can't imagine any of the majors keeping a box in print for that long.  Let's look forward to a few more great Mosaic boxes!  And thanks too for mentioning our Organissimo board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's interesting how time marches on.  Right now, the years are roughly equal where the Benedetti tapes were rumored about and their existence was questionable (30 years or so, 1955-85) and the Mosaic has been available for all to hear (1985 - present).  They've gone from being a holy grail to just some more entries in the Parker discography.

If Mosaic ever releases the Buddy Bolden cylinders, it'll probably go OOP in a couple of years!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/4/2017 at 0:04 PM, mjzee said:

It's interesting how time marches on.  Right now, the years are roughly equal where the Benedetti tapes were rumored about and their existence was questionable (30 years or so, 1955-85) and the Mosaic has been available for all to hear (1985 - present).  They've gone from being a holy grail to just some more entries in the Parker discography.

If Mosaic ever releases the Buddy Bolden cylinders, it'll probably go OOP in a couple of years!

Well I think they were rumored to be even more extensive.  Almost glad they weren't. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just received the news in the Mosaic Newsletter:

Mosaic Newsletter
August 16, 2017
Limited Editions Back In Stock!
 
Classic Columbia and OKeh
Benny Goodman Orchestra Sessions
 (1939 - 1958)

 
240email.jpg  
  

Try to describe the Goodman sound of jazz? Easy: Pure Swing. The big band he organized for the "Let's Dance" radio program over NBC in New York eventually matured into the locomotive that barreled through the country to its famed and often told moment of discovery and success at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. The swing band delivered to the youth of America a new voice that was hot, cool, progressive and inventive. 

In that spirit, Mosaic Records is proud to present the Classic Columbia and OKeh Benny Goodman Orchestra Sessions (1939-1958) - a treasured collection of seven CDs, spanning nearly 20 years of Goodman's musical life, from the late 1930s when his popularity was already well established, throughout the 1950s when Benny would assemble the cream of musicians of the mainstream jazz world to be, even if it were just for one session, the Benny Goodman Orchestra. 

 

 

"My copy arrived late last night and I immediately opened it. Four hours later I was still exploring the wonders of this set, still awed by the brilliance of Benny Goodman and his early 1940s orchestras. Virtually no other ensemble of the time - apart from Ellington's - managed to combine such a sense of adventure with respect for its own heritage. You hear the band go from the almost avant-garde Eddie Sauter arrangements to the familiar sound of the Fletcher Henderson charts with no loss of enthusiasm or conviction. " - Customer Review

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Very sad admission: I'm not sure I've ever heard any actual/original Goodman. I've heard covers, but not the real deal, as far as I know...

Wow -- that's surprising.  Not even the Carnegie Hall "Sing, Sing Sing"?  That seems to be such a classic recording, I'd suspect even some people who aren't jazz fans have been exposed to it on occasion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've heard a fair amount of Goodman all my life. Dad was a fan, my Uncle Doyle was almost a worshipper, and I picked up some on my own. Not a lot, just the odd thing here and there. But really, it was only within the last year or two that I've developed an appetite for this much of this era of Goodman.

Just saying, there's some really nice music to be had under the name Benny Goodman, but...The RCA small groups any any "Best Of" covering the RCA and/or Columbia big bands should suffice for anybody who just wants a basic historical awareness of what that whole thing was about.

But...anybody who digs the Mulligan CJB and all that went into and out of that world should check out the 1962 Russia band. Apparently the record is a real salvage job, but what they salvaged makes for a wonderfully cohesive continuous presentation. Knowing the back story of that tour just brings the music more to life, because...you don't let the bastards get you down, ever, you elevate. That can take a lot of different forms, but when you're essentially being held hostage by a professional commitment behind the Iron Curtain, you pretty much have one option other than suicide - you bring it.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mel Lewis was incapable of not swinging, imo, Zoot Sims was the kind of guy who would play any gig and always bring Zoot Sims, nothing more or nothing less, if you don't want Zoot Sims, don't hire Zoot Sims, right? and Phil Woods, listen closely all you reflexo-haters out there: Phil Woods was one of the VERY greatest lead alto players in the history of this music. Hell, a major reason why I still dig this record so much is just to listen to Phil Woods lead that section.

Benny Goodman was a pretty freaky guy, and time spent waiting for him to be anything other than what he was is gonna be time forever wasted. But dammit, the guy knew how he wanted his bands to sound, and they pretty much always did, so, you know, bring the mountain to the door, open up the door, Richard, you can get it yourself, I will, thank you.

And truthfully, I don't know if young people today, even the best of them could play like this band does, not just like this, these guys knew it was retro, but they still had it in them from when it wasn't. That makes a difference, imo. Is this "corny"? OF COURSE it is, does it feel bad, though, does it leave things worse than they were found? Not imo. ZOOT! MEL! PHIL WOODS LEAD ALTO!

People on the same word in the same sentence in the same paragraph on the same page of the same book, are they drug playing this, pretty sure yes, but it's not a crime to be drug on a gig, it's a crime to not elevate anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jim's love for the Goodman Russia album caused me to listen to it again, and it does stand up pretty well (though Bill Crow's account of the leader on that tour is somewhat less than complimentary! Russia Without Love)

My favorite late Benny is an album he recorded for London. It seems obvious to me that he really enjoyed these musicians and was having a good time: 

Goodman.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/16/2017 at 3:13 PM, JSngry said:

And I got a shipping notice today. It's all over but the getting!

And I got ANOTHER shipping notice today...this time with a tracking # link, which shows an ETA of Monday, 08/28/2017, By End of Day

I'm going to make allowances for "circumstances", but if this was the way they'd always done business, they'd not be doing business today, if you get my drift.

Next Scheduled Event:  Thursday,08/24/2017 by 5:00 P.M.

Location Date Local Time Activity
Stratford,  CT,  United States 08/22/2017 11:07 P.M. Departure Scan
  08/22/2017 9:33 P.M. Origin Scan
United States 08/22/2017 10:01 A.M. (ET) Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Departed - Stratford, CT, United States, Tuesday, 08/22/2017

Shipper: UPS Ground RESIDENTIAL
Ship Date: 2017/08/22

ITEM            DESCRIPTION      QTY

240-MD-CD BENNY GOODMAN 1

Oh, this is interesting, today's shipping notice was sent to me by ofweb@williambmeyer.com

Which is these guys: http://www.williambmeyer.com/

Any of you long-term Connecticuttians know of this outfit? Are they new to Mosaic or what?

Newsite-logo_x.png

 

Since 1915!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...