The Famous Carnegie Hall Concert 1938

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The Famous Carnegie Hall Concert 1938
Live album by Benny Goodman

Publication
(s)

1950

Label (s) Columbia

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

jazz

occupation

Studio (s)

Carnegie Hall , New York City

chronology
Benny Goodman 1938 (Classics)
(1938) 		The Famous Carnegie Hall Concert 1938 Benny Goodman 1938-1939 (Classics)
(1939)

1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert is a jazz album of the Swing - clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman . It contains the recordings of the concert on January 16, 1938 at New York's Carnegie Hall . Under this title a double LP was released in 1950 in the USA by Columbia Records , in Germany in the 1950s by Philips.

Prehistory of the concert

This concert has often been mistakenly described as the first ever appearance by a jazz musician at Carnegie Hall; however, there were jazz concerts there before that.

The appearance of Benny Goodman and his Big Band became a historic event due to the already resounding names of the participating musicians and the numerous guest musicians, although the legendary Carnegie Hall otherwise tends to be "higher" art forms - primarily classical music, of course - was reserved and jazz was still considered disreputable, raw and somehow "dirty" in many sections of the population at that time. The musicians felt that too. So Harry James said before stepping on stage: "I feel like a whore in church."

Benny Goodman with his clarinet

It was initially decided that the concerto should contain the usual Goodman repertoire. Co-organizer Irving Kolodin suggested that Benny also present a musical jazz story in which examples of the early Dixieland , new versions of famous Louis Armstrong or Bix Beiderbecke solos, a Duke Ellington number and the like should be heard. Since Ellington's musicians could interpret his music best, they hired Johnny Hodges , Cootie Williams and Harry Carney for the corresponding number (jam session); Duke Ellington himself, however, was not ready to play second fiddle alongside Goodman. Instead, John Hammond brought Count Basie and some of his musicians (such as Lester Young , Freddie Green , Walter Page ) into the program.

Expectations for the concert had been raised by the press, so the musicians were very excited. The February 1938 jazz magazine Down Beat wrote: Benny, pale as an old man, admonished everyone to go out together, and the boys pushed each other through the stage wings, which were full of photographers, musicians, listeners with seats on the stage (.. .) and the press. Olin Downes, the reviewer for the New York Times , reported: "There was excitement in the air, an almost electric tension . "

The concert at Carnegie Hall

Goodman opened the concert with a title originally written by Edgar Sampson for the Chick Webb Orchestra and arranged by him for the Goodman Band: Don't Be That Way . The success of the concert made it a Goodman classic. The co-organizer Irving Kolodin wrote in the liner notes: "The later popularity, the record sales and, last but not least, the acceptance by the audience justified Benny's decision to put this number at the beginning as an 'icebreaker'."

The One O'Clock Jump following the second track Sometimes I'm Happy was for the swing colleague Count Basie . This was followed by a medley of jazz history ("Twenty Years Of Jazz"), which was Kolodin's idea and was not able to convince: I'm Coming Virginia was supposed to revive the spirit of the late Leon Bix Beiderbecke . Bobby Hackett's version of the Beiderbecke solo is considered successful. The imitation of the original Dixieland Jass Band (Dixieland One Step) and Ted Lewis ( When My Baby Smiles At Me ) degenerated into a pure parody. This was followed by Shine as a Louis Armstrong homage, Blue Reverie as a bow to the Duke and Life Goes To A Party , where Gene Krupa and Harry James have their big appearances. The contemporary criticism particularly emphasized the importance of the drummer Gene Krupa, whose spectacular solo interludes during the course of the evening numerous spontaneous applause, for the success of the concert.

The subsequent jam session ( Honeysuckle Rose ), in which Johnny Hodges , Count Basie and his musicians take part, was pretty chaotic: only Lester Young's solo part was convincing; there were just too many musicians involved in the session.

Now the Benny Goodman Band offered their well-known program: in the trio line-up Goodman / Krupa / Wilson, which came about in 1935 at a party at Mildred Bailey's , they played their hit and later jazz standard Body and Soul . This is followed by Avalon and the Gershwin classics The Man I Love and I Got Rhythm in a quartet - then there was the vibraphonist Lionel Hampton , who made his debut in an impromptu session with Wilson and Krupa in 1936, the birth of the Benny Goodman Quartet .

At the following Blue Skies the big band joined again; it includes solos by Vernon Brown , Arthur Rollini and Harry James . Loch Lomond is Maxine Sullivan's jazz adaptation of the traditional Scottish song of the same name. It was arranged for the concert by Claude Thornhill . The popular songwriter duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart should be honored with Blue Room . Jimmy Mundy is the author and arranger of the following hit Swingtime in the Rockies . The soloist is the trumpeter Ziggy Elman . You are beautiful with me (with Ziggy Elman's "Frahlich" trumpet interlude) was the Andrews Sisters' big hit in 1937/38 . The song was from a show at the 2nd Avenue Yiddish Theater directed by Sholom Secunda . The “Frahlich” (or “Freilach”), on the other hand, is a traditional Jewish dance from the context of Klezmer music, which was particularly popular at weddings.

Again in the trio line-up (Goodman / Krupa / Wilson) the 1920s hit China Boy was played; This was followed by a quartet - again with Hampton - the Goodman hit Stompin 'At The Savoy and Dizzy Spells , a classic from the Goodman repertoire. This piece was developed (similar to A Sm-o-oth One, Pous 1/2, Air Mail Special ) in sessions from improvisations.

Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima was the final number of the concert. Jimmy Mundy's arrangement led to the piece's success. Mundy had changed the Prima style to such an extent that only minor similarities with the original could be recognized and connected it to the Fletcher-Henderson piece Christopher Columbus . When, after Goodman's solo, it looks as if the piece and the evening are over, Jess Stacy hits the keys again with a grandiose solo with an atmospherically dense background from Gene Krupa. Big John's Special is playedas an encore; a piece from the repertoire of the Fletcher-Henderson band from the early 1930s. Goodman gave the song new popularity. The title is an obituary for a then famous New York bartender named Big John Elman. Goodman and James played the solos.

Benny Goodman later commented on Nat Hentoff : “The famous concert at Carnegie Hall was a tremendous experience because it was more than just a concert. It had a special meaning. A couple of musicians went on stage and played melodies by (George and Ira) Gershwin, (Irving) Berlin and (Jerome) Kern in arrangements by Fletcher (Henderson) and Edgar Sampson, got up and played their choruses as they did them wanted to play; each of them was himself and nothing else, and they managed to grab the attention of such a huge audience for two and a half hours. "

Aftermath of the Carnegie Hall concert

Commenting on the impact on Benny Goodman's career, Goodman biographer Lincoln Collier wrote: “Word soon got around that the event had been a great success. The Down Beat dedicated a cover story to the concert, but their opinion was mixed when it came to the music: The show was typical of Goodman's normal repertoire, with all its ups and downs. The (far too long) jam session with the Basie musicians was particularly criticized. 'Sing Sing Sing' and the Ellington part received praise. ” The promotional value of the concert was however invaluable. Most people thought this was the first swing concert; they didn't care that there had been jazz concerts before. The success brought an even wider interest in Goodman. His film 'Hollywood Hotel' was just starting and on January 26th it was starring at Paramount. Goodman was now at the forefront of the American pop music industry, a central figure in the booming new swing, and on the way to the first million.

Drummer Gene Krupa had been Goodman's main sideman; the great success he had with Goodman induced him to form his own band; after the April concert at the Boston Symphony Hall, he left the band; then the trumpeter Harry James left the band; in March 1939 Teddy Wilson formed his own group.

The pieces on the double LP

Lionel Hampton 1977 during a concert in Aachen
  1. Don't Be That Way (Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Mitchel Parish)
  2. One O'Clock Jump (William "Count" Basie)
  3. Dixieland One Step ( Nick LaRocca )
  4. I'm Coming Virginia (Will Marion Cook, Donald Heywood)
  5. When my Baby Smiles at me (Bill Munro, Andrew Sterling, Ted Lewis , Harry von Tilzer)
  6. Shine (Cecil Mac, Lew Brown , Ford Debney )
  7. Blue Reverie (Mills, Ellington, Harry Carney)
  8. Life Goes to a Party (Harry James, Benny Goodman)
  9. Jam Session - Honeysuckle Rose (Thomas “Fats” Waller)
  10. Body and Soul (H. Sour, E. Heyman, F. Eyton, Johnny Green)
  11. Avalon ( Al Jolson , Billy Rose )
  12. The Man I Love (George & Ira Gershwin)
  13. I Got Rhythm (George & Ira Gershwin)
  14. Blue Skies ( Irving Berlin )
  15. Loch Lomond (trad.)
  16. Blue Room (Rodgers, Hart)
  17. Swingtime in the Rockies (Goodman, James Mundy)
  18. You are beautiful with me (Jacob Jacobs, Sholom Secunda , Sammy Cahn , Saul Chaplin )
  19. China Boy (Dick Winfree / Phil Boutelie)
  20. Stompin 'at the Savoy (Benny Goodman / Chick Webb / Edgar Sampson )
  21. Dizzy Spells (Goodman / Wilson / Hampton)
  22. Sing Sing Sing ( Louis Prima )
  23. Big John's Special ( Horace Henderson )

Pieces of the double CD

Benny Goodman in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)

Disc 1

  1. Introduction by Benny Goodman (recorded in 1950) 0:22
  2. Don't Be That Way Edgar Sampson , Benny Goodman, Mitchell Parish 4:12
  3. Sometimes I'm Happy Vincent Youmans , Irving Caesar , Clifford Gray 4:13
  4. One O'Clock Jump Eddie Durham , Buster Smith 6:47
  5. Applause - change to 20 years of jazz 0:41
  6. Sensation Rag Ed "Daddy" Edwards 1:12
  7. I'm Coming Virginia Will Marion Cook , Donald Heywood 2:15
  8. When My Baby Smiles at Me Bill Munro, Andrew Sterling, Ted Lewis , Harry von Tilzer 0:52
  9. Shine Cecil Mack , Ford Dabney , Lew Brown 0:55
  10. Blue Reverie Duke Ellington , Harry Carney 3:32
  11. Applause - switch back to the Goodman Orchestra 0:22
  12. Life Goes to A Party Harry James, Benny Goodman 4:05
  13. Preparation for jam session 0:40
  14. Honeysuckle Rose Fats Waller , Andy Razaf 16:42
    • Solos: Young, Basie, Clayton, Hodges, rhythm section (Basie, Green, Page, Krupa), Carney, B. Goodman, James, Young, Clayton
  15. Applause and preparation for BG's small cast 1:00
  16. Body and Soul Johnny Green , Edward Heyman , Robert Sour , Frank Eyton 3:10
  17. Applause as Lionel Hampton took the stage 0:27
  18. Avalon Vincent Rose , BG DeSylva , Al Jolson 4:04
  19. The Man I Love George Gershwin , Ira Gershwin 3:27
  20. I Got Rhythm George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin 4:40
  21. Pause 0:06

Disc 2

Concert room
  1. Blue Skies Irving Berlin 3:14
  2. Loch Lomond traditionally 3:04
  3. Applause - BG's “There are no encores” announcement 1:14
  4. Blue Room Richard Rodgers , Lorenz Hart 2:36
  5. Swingtime in the Rockies Jimmy Mundy , Benny Goodman 2:38
  6. Applause and Martha Tilton comes back 0:21
  7. With Me You Are Beautiful Sholom Secunda , Jacob Jacobs, Sammy Cahn , Saul Chaplin 3:54
  8. Applause - preparation for BG's small cast 0:32
  9. China Boy Dick Winfree, Phil Boutelje 4:45
  10. Stompin 'at the Savoy Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman, Chick Webb 5:55
  11. Applause and continuation with BG's quartet 0:24
  12. Dizzy Spells Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson 5:37
  13. Applause and switch back to the orchestra 0:41
  14. Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) Louis Prima 12:02
  15. Applause until the encore (!) 1:03
  16. If Dreams Come True Edgar Sampson, Benny Goodman, Irving Mills 2:34
  17. Applause for the second encore 0:21
  18. Big John's Special Horace Henderson 3:41
  19. Pause track 0:06
  20. Introduction (recorded 1950) 0:26
  21. Don't Be That Way (recorded 1950) 0:18
  22. Twenty Years of Jazz (recorded 1950) 0:15
  23. Blue Reverie (recorded 1950) 0:24
  24. Life Goes to a Party (recorded 1950) 0:27
  25. Body and Soul (recorded 1950) 0:45
  26. Avalon (recorded 1950) 0:23
  27. Swingtime in the Rockies (recorded 1950) 0:17
  28. Conclusion (recorded 1950) 0:15

The musicians of the concert

Carnegie Hall main entrance

The Benny Goodman Orchestra

Additional musicians

History of the album

The concert was recorded, although there was no radio broadcast and the organizers had not planned to record the concert. Albert Marx, record producer for Brunswick Records, and husband Helen Ward , the first female singer in Goodman's band, made a recording using the sound engineering of Carnegie Hall and the Columbia Broadcasting System . 28 acetate records were recorded. Marx left a copy of the plates to Goodman. In 1950, after Goodman moved from his long-standing apartment at 1155 Park Avenue to 200 East 66th Street, his sister-in-law Rachael took over the apartment and found a tin box with the acetates in a hidden closet. After the handover to Goodman, he listened to the recordings together with John Hammond and discovered their potential. They then offered the recordings to Capitol Records , which, however, refused. A second offer was made to Ted Wallerstein , President of Columbia Records. The recordings were then bought and produced by Howard Scott and George Avakian . After mastering on September 25, 1950, the album was released on November 13, 1950 as the first double LP ever.

reception

Bruce Eder rated the double album (1987) on Allmusic with the highest rating of five stars; the versions of Don't Be That Way, Sing Sing Sing and One O'Clock Jump are "priceless" (and probably also in the case of the first two tracks definitely).

Jack Sohmer wrote about the Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall-1938 edition : Complete at JazzTimes : The Benny Goodman Orchestra's performance at Carnegie Hall on January 16, 1938, became the most famous concert in the history of jazz , and not just as the unheard-of coup for jazz and for a multiracial public appearance, but it was also the door opener for other events at the prestigious location such as John Hammond's concert series From Spirituals to Swing (1938/39) with an all-star cast. The author mentions the additions to the edition, a solo chorus by Buck Clayton in Honeysuckle Rose , the now complete solos by Harry Carney and Freddie Green and the big band numbers Sometimes I'm Happy and Edgar Sampsons If Dreams Come True . Carney's extensive solo improvisations in particular would be better represented here than in many of the Duke Ellington Orchestra's recordings . The highlight of the mini-suite Twenty Years of Jazz is Ellington's Blue Reverie , with Johnny Hodges 'masterful playing on a Bechet-inspired soprano saxophone, as well as Carney's broad-sounding baritone and Cootie Williams' plunger trumpet.

Edition history

Later LP and CD editions vary in the title information

  • Benny Goodman At Carnegie Hall - Complete (Columbia C2K 65143)
  • Benny Goodman Live At Carnegie Hall (Columbia / Sony 450983 2)
  • Benny Goodman The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert ( CBS 66202, 1970)

Since 1999 the double CD has been marketed under the title "The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert". Columbia 450983-2 also contains the "Sensation Rag" (with the B. Goodman Quartet).

Literature and Sources

  • Joachim-Ernst Berendt : Das Jazzbuch , Frankfurt / Main, Krüger, 1976
  • James Lincoln Collier: Benny Goodman - King Of Swing , Munich, Heyne, 1997
  • Irving Kolodin: Liner Notes [to Benny Goodman - Carnegie Hall Concert (Philips B 07000 L)]
  • Martin Kunzler : Jazz-Lexikon , Reinbek, Rowohlt, 1993
  • Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
  • Nat Hentoff & Nat Shapiro : Jazz tells - Hear Me Talkin 'To Ya , Munich, Nymphenburger, 1959
  • Catherine Tackley: Benny Goodman´s famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert , Oxford University Press 2012

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Carnegie Hall concert was not planned as a record. Albert Marx transmitted the concert to a nearby studio with just one microphone, where the acetate records were then cut. One of the recordings went to the Library of Congress and another to Goodman. After rediscovery, it was released on Columbia Records in November 1950 ; quoted after Collier, p. 267
  2. ↑ The double LP was also available in the same version, but with a German title (Benny Goodman and his famous Carnegie Hall concert, Philips 07000 L). Both albums came out in a ring binder with four-page liner notes.
  3. ↑ so the mammoth concert of black music by WC Handy in 1928 , quoted. after Collier, p. 262
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h quoted. after James Lincoln Collier: Benny Goodman - King Of Swing, Munich, Heyne, 1997
  5. ↑ The Benny Goodman Band had, apart from their appearance at the Congress Hotel in Chicago , only played at events that also included dancing, quote. according to Kolodin
  6. ↑ It was entirely in Hammond's mind to open further doors in show business for some black musicians. Otherwise, John Hammond had nothing to do with the organization of the concert. (Collier, p. 264)
  7. ↑ cit. after Hentoff / Shapiro, Jazz told, p. 339
  8. ↑ Columbia Records let Goodman - with the release of the record in the USA - make subsequent announcements about the titles in 1950 (which were probably not said by him in the original concert)
  9. ↑ cf. Rainer Schneider Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall (PDF; 902 kB), Collier, p. 267
  10. ↑ Review of the album Live at Carnegie Hall (1938) by Bruce Eder on Allmusic (English)
  11. ↑ Jack Sohmer: Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall-1938: Complete (2000) at JazzTimes

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