January 18_RJ
I first came across the name 'Benny Goodman' in an article in The Readers Digest. The article was on an entirely different topic, but what got my attention was the description "Anyone who had the pleasure of watching Jazz Musician Benny Goodman at work saw a rather ordinary-looking man in a rimless and a conservative business suit; but they also saw a human being who could play the clarinet like no one before or since." This article made me jot down the name as a reminder to buy a cassette when i came across and i did subsequently.
When i read about him, i also understood that he was a American Jazz and Swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music.
Goodman's bands launched the careers of many major names in jazz. During an era of segregation he also led one of the first well-known integrated jazz groups. He completely unlearnt and learnt again his style of playing to enable him to play classical music when he was in his 40s, not an easy job for some one who had to forget 30 years of learning. It was as good as learning Clarinet again.
No wonder, he was mentioned in the August 1992 Readers Digest article titled ' If you want to make a difference'.
In today's Music with Coffee, we look at a piece called 'Sing, Sing, Sing' that also featured in the 1938 concert.
Here is what The Economist has to say about this song's ongoing popularity.
"You must recognize it: that driving drum beat, that wailing wall of horn: "Sing, Sing, Sing", one of the top jazz tunes of the 1930s, has now become almost completely inescapable. Since it was resurrected by Bob Fosse in 1979 for his film "All That Jazz", it has featured in no fewer than 22 movies, including three Woody Allens, and, perhaps most penetratingly, "The Artist", the French Oscar-winning silent tribute to swing, sound, hard times and triumphant come-backs…"
"You must recognize it: that driving drum beat, that wailing wall of horn: "Sing, Sing, Sing", one of the top jazz tunes of the 1930s, has now become almost completely inescapable. Since it was resurrected by Bob Fosse in 1979 for his film "All That Jazz", it has featured in no fewer than 22 movies, including three Woody Allens, and, perhaps most penetratingly, "The Artist", the French Oscar-winning silent tribute to swing, sound, hard times and triumphant come-backs…"
Here is what the Wikipedia says about song
"Unlike most big band arrangements of that era, limited in length to three minutes so that they could be recorded on one side of a standard 10-inch 78-rpm record, the Goodman band version was an extended work. The 1937 recording lasted 8 min 43 seconds, and took both sides of a 12-inch 78."
"Unlike most big band arrangements of that era, limited in length to three minutes so that they could be recorded on one side of a standard 10-inch 78-rpm record, the Goodman band version was an extended work. The 1937 recording lasted 8 min 43 seconds, and took both sides of a 12-inch 78."
And this is Wikipedia again, regarding the Carnegie Hall concert:
"The concert was the evening of January 16, 1938. It sold out weeks before, with the capacity 2,760 seats going for the top price of US $2.75 a seat, for the time a very high price... By the time the band got to the climactic piece "Sing, Sing, Sing", success was assured. This performance featured playing by tenor saxophonist Babe Russin, trumpeter Harry James, and Benny Goodman, backed by drummer Gene Krupa. When Goodman finished his solo, he unexpectedly gave a solo to pianist Jess Stacy... This concert has been regarded as one of the most significant in jazz history."
"The concert was the evening of January 16, 1938. It sold out weeks before, with the capacity 2,760 seats going for the top price of US $2.75 a seat, for the time a very high price... By the time the band got to the climactic piece "Sing, Sing, Sing", success was assured. This performance featured playing by tenor saxophonist Babe Russin, trumpeter Harry James, and Benny Goodman, backed by drummer Gene Krupa. When Goodman finished his solo, he unexpectedly gave a solo to pianist Jess Stacy... This concert has been regarded as one of the most significant in jazz history."
There are two versions of Sing,Sing,Sing ( with a Swing) that i recommend
The first one that bristles with unbridled enery, interrupted by clapping sound from the audience, is here
The first one that bristles with unbridled enery, interrupted by clapping sound from the audience, is here
Listen to it completely and watch it closely from 5:30 seconds. Get a good headphone on and dance along. smile emoticon
The second one, a 5 minute version is found here -
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