Swing Music

This CD is part of The Chronological Benny Goodman and His Orchestra Series, released by Classics Records of France.

Longtime fans of music of the 1930s and 1940s have been accustomed to the small selection of tunes of the era that have traditionally been available on LP and in the early CD era. Goodman was represented by the King Porter Stomp, Miller by Moonlight Serenade, Artie Shaw by Stardust, and so forth. All but the most serious collectors were left with the impression that there were precious few songs released by these bands or that very few had survived.

Happily, huge numbers of tracks have been released on CD over the past few years. The Chronological Benny Goodman is an excellent example of the musical riches that have been remastered and released for the enjoyment of an entirely new generation of devotees.

The series is intended to provide comprehensive coverage of Goodman's releases from his earliest days in the late 1920s through the generally accepted end of the Swing Era, at the end of World War II. For the sake of completeness, a number of the tracks include recordings that were rejected by Columbia, for whom Goodman was recording at the time.

The vocalist at this time was Peggy Lee, and she does well on tunes such as "My Old Flame" and "How Deep is the Ocean." Goodman's band even swings a classic on this album with a rendition of Nicolo Paganini's Caprice XXIV.

Overall, the recordings are nicely presented. They appear to have come from well preserved masters and to have been expertly re-mastered. All in all, this is a very nice collection and is a must-have for collectors. I did give this recording a 4-star rating. Peggy Lee is not my favorite Goodman canary and I could have done without the multiple takes of 3 of the songs on this particular album: "The Birth of the Blues," How Deep is the Ocean," and "My Old Flame." However, as a Goodman fan and a fan of music of the era, I do thoroughly enjoy both the album and the series.

In summary, I heartily recommend this CD to collectors as well as to those who would like to go beyond the all too frequently heard chestnuts that too often represent Goodman's prolific output.