Benny Goodman Live on the West Coast, 1960

During my recent trip to Europe, I rediscovered an album that I'd long forgotten—the outstanding Benny Goodman Swings Again, perhaps one of the least discussed entries in the prolific Benny Goodman discography. Early in 1960, the King of Swing put together a swinging new band for touring purposes. The ten-piece outfit included magnificent musicians such as vibraphonist Red Norvo, tenorist Flip Phillips, altoist Jerry Dodgion, trombonist Murray McEachern, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, pianist Russ Freeman, guitarist Jimmy Wyble, bassist Red Wooten, and drummer John Markham. This was essentially an augmented lineup of the Norvo-led quintet that a few months before had accompanied Frank Sinatra at a concert in Melborne that Blue Note released in the '90s under the title of Frank Sinatra Live in Australia 1959. The Goodman album was released by Columbia and was recorded live at Ciro's in Hollywood and Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, which explains its subtitle, "Recorded Live on the West Coast." It features exciting new readings of Goodman classics such as "Air Mail Special," "Slipped Disc," "I Want to Be Happy," and "After You've Gone" and captures the fresh sound of this tightly knit band in a live setting, the updated arrangements leaving plenty of room for solos not only by the leader but also by Norvo, Phillips, Sheldon, and the rest of the sidemen, all of whom get several chances to showcase their talents.

Benny Goodman, 1960s (Photo: Herb Snitzer)

Goodman is undeniably in top form and even vocalizes—and forgets the lyrics!—on "Gotta Be This or That," a number that he always enjoyed singing. The only ballad on the set list, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "Where or When," is actually one of the highlights, an opportunity for Goodman to show his tender side amid so much swinging uptempo material. Though the clarinetist's contempt for and dislike of vocalists was no secret, he features the lesser-known singer Maria Marshall on two selections, "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" and "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home," both of which she delivers in a style clearly reminiscent of Judy Garland. A rather obscure vocalist, Marshall also worked with the likes of Chubby Jackson and one Frank DuBois, though I admit the two numbers on this LP are the only recordings by her I've ever heard. Judging by the cover, one of the selling points of the album was a new nine-and-a-half-minute rendition of "Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)," and although this 1960 arrangement is no match for the classic 1938 Carnegie Hall version, it's still an engaging, spirited performance. Critic Gene Knight, who attended one of these concerts, enthusiastically described Goodman's gig in the New York Journal-American as "an electric shock, administered musically . . . all the old favorites became new favorites again . . . there were shouts, cheers; customers stood up and applauded wildly . . . last night, as always, Benny was BIG!" And Benny Goodman Swings Again fortunately preserves on tape some of the excitement created by this early '60s Goodman outfit for our listening pleasure—alas, my sole complaint is that it only features nine tracks!

A Swinging Christmas with the Big Bands

At the end of every year, right after Thanksgiving, Christmas music begins to fill our home in Martin, TN, and the jazzier the rhythm, the more enjoyable it is! While the idea of holiday music as a very profitable business must be traced back to Bing Crosby's early 1930s recordings of "Silent Night" and "Adeste Fideles" for Decca, it didn't take too long for everyone else to follow in Bing's footsteps, and by the time the Swing Era erupted, all major bands were including Christmas tunes in their repertoires—and finding out that many of them kept being popular and selling year after year. Fortunately, there are several compilations of big band holiday music currently available, but my personal favorite of its kind is Christmas on the Bandstand (Columbia/Legacy) because it features 12 timeless performances cut between 1939 and 1962 by name bands like those led by Harry James, Benny Goodman, Les Brown, Woody Herman, and Duke Ellington, among others, all with great sound and some well-written liner notes by Will Friedwald, whose contributions are always a plus.

Les Brown and a young Doris Day

Some of the tracks included are the expected holiday evergreens, such as "White Christmas" (by Harry James, with a fine vocal by Marion Morgan), "Jingle Bells" (a 1962 recording by the Ellington band arranged by his son Mercer Ellington, one of the absolute highlights of the collection), and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (in a Sammy Kaye version that is the perfect synthesis of sweetness and corn). Kay Kyser shows both sides of the sound of his very popular outfit here: first, the band has fun with the catchy "Hello, Mr. Kringle," complete with a contribution from the inimitable Ish Kabibble; then, Harry Babbitt shows off his crooning wares on the beautiful "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Woody Herman gives us an excitingly swinging "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and Harry James takes us on a Latin American trip on the rare "Brazilian Sleigh Bells." It soon becomes clear that not all the songs actually refer to Christmas, but the compilation also features its share of winter songs, such as Benny Goodman's "Winter Weather" (Art Lund and Peggy Lee provide the vocals), Eddy Duchin's "When Winter Comes," and Les Brown's lovely "Sleigh Ride in July" (with Gordon Drake handling the vocal chorus). Brown's Band of Renown also offers "When You Trim Your Christmas Tree," a lesser-known gem featuring vocalist Jack Haskell, and puts the spotlight on Doris Day on a magnificent reading of Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song." This is undoubtedly the place to start for anyone who would like to infuse some solid swing into the holiday season.

June Christy's Radio Transcription Sessions with Johnny Guarnieri, 1949

Born Shirley Luster in Springfield, IL, in 1925, June Christy was one of the best female vocalists to come out of the Big Band Era, thanks in particular to her classic work with Stan Kenton in the mid-1940s. Subsequently, she would go on to carve out a successful career as a solo recording artist throughout the 1950s, producing such memorable albums as Something Cool, Ballads for the Night People, and The Misty Miss Christy, all of them recorded for Capitol. Before hitting the big time with Kenton, via smashes like "Tampico" and "How High the Moon," Christy honed her vocal skills working with the orchestras led by Boyd Raeburn and Benny Strong. But it was during her rather brief tenure with Kenton that her career would be changed forever: not only did she make some enduring records with the band, but it was the bandleader himself that persuaded her to adopt the stage name of June Christy. Kenton disbanded in 1948, and one year later Christy began making a series of radio transcriptions accompanied by a quintet led by pianist Johnny Guarnieri.

Guarnieri, who had been born in New York and was about eight years Christy's senior, had made a name for himself working alongside Benny Goodman and playing harpsichord, of all instruments, on recordings by Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five. As these sessions show, he was a sensitive accompanist who understood Christy's cool, boppish approach to singing perfectly. Though when these transcription sessions took place Christy's classic Something Cool album still lay five years ahead, we can already hear more than hints of the style that would make her such an instantly recognizable singer during her tenure with Capitol. Christy sounds extremely relaxed on these sides, both coolly sensual on ballads and gently swinging on uptempo numbers. The small-group setting is ideal for her, and although not much information is available regarding the identity of all the musicians involved, it seems that besides Guarnieri on piano, we can hear Leo Guarnieri on bass, Frank Garisti and Morey Feld on drums, Charles DiMaggio on saxophone, and George Walters on trumpet. Since these discs were produced to be licensed to radio stations, the repertoire is mostly comprised of familiar standards, the kind of material with which both the band and Christy herself felt entirely at home. Fortunately, the British label Jasmine Records has released all of these transcription recordings on a three-volume series entitled A Friendly Session, and the informal atmosphere of these dates makes these CDs an absolute joy to hear.

Jimmy Rushing Live in New York with Zoot Sims and Al Cohn

The first time I ever heard Jimmy Rushing, on a recording of "He Ain't Got Rhythm" he made with Benny Goodman, I was impressed. But when I later discovered the outstanding records he cut with the Count Basie orchestra, I realized that Mr. Five by Five (such was his nickname due to his stocky complexion) was one of the most fascinating singers ever to come out of the Swing Era. Not only did he have rhythm, but his voice was immediately recognizable, and his blues phrasing was simply irresistible. Rushing had begun his career in the late 1920s in Kansas City, singing first with Walter Page's Blue Devils and then with Bennie Moten's band, out of which the Basie organization evolved. He helped popularize the blues within a big band swing context, but he wasn't just a blues shouter—he knew how to approach a pop tune and inflect it with an unmistakable bluesy feeling.

Jimmy Rushing at Newport in 1965
(Photo: Francine Winham)

After the years he spent within the ranks of the Basie band, Rushing made some very interesting albums for Vanguard and Columbia, and by the mid 1960s, he was appearing in New York clubs, which is the period of his career captured in The Scene: Live in New York (Hightone). The group backing Rushing on these live dates is led by saxophonists Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and also includes Dave Frishberg on piano, Major Holley and John Beal on bass, and Mousey Alexander on drums. The band actually gets a chance to cut loose on two selections without Rushing ("The Red Door" and "It's Noteworthy") but the singer, who is in fine form, is the main attraction here. The repertoire features both standards ("I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me," "Baby Ain't I Good to You") and blues numbers ("Goin' to Chicago," "Good Morning Blues") that were closely associated with him during his Basie years. The sound of the recordings is excellent, and Rushing's performances are very relaxed and ooze charm and conviction. While any Rushing collection should begin with his records with Basie, this is a worthwhile snapshot of his lesser-known later years.