The Columbia/Legacy "Best of the Big Bands" series has issued a batch of new titles, along with a double-disc live Benny Goodman album. This is truly a "blast from the past" for big band fans - and some of the selections here are absolute knockouts.
BENNY GOODMAN, "Benny Goodman On the Air (1937-1938)" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * *
Benny Goodman fans are in for a treat with this two-disc reissue of live performances, and on some tracks you can almost feel the electricity rippling through the audience. Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Harry James, singers Martha Tilton and Helen Ward and many others join Goodman on a wide array of hits, from "Vibraphone Blues" to "Clarinet Marmalade" to "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree," etc. - 49 cuts in all. But you can really feel the heat on the penultimate piece, "Caravan." If your toes aren't tapping, check your pulse.
BENNY GOODMAN/HELEN FORREST, "Best of the Big Bands: Benny Goodman - Featuring Helen Forrest" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * *
These selections, with Benny Goodman and Helen Forrest collaborating on the likes of "You're Dangerous," "Lazy River," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and many others are top-of-the-line Big Band listening for fans. She may not be as well-remembered by the general public as Peggy Lee but Forrest's range and ability were untouchable, as is very well demonstrated in this superb collection.
CAB CALLOWAY/CHU BERRY "Best of the Big Bands: Cab Calloway - Featuring Chu Berry" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * *
Jazz master Cab Calloway has always been a personal favorite of mine, and these cuts with tenor sax virtuoso Leon "Chu" Berry (so named for his "Fu Manchu"-style goatee and mustache) and many other of Calloway's regular cronies (recorded 1937-39), are especially good, highlighting the "serious" side of Calloway's work . . . despite the presence of a few "Yow-zah!" exclamations and occasional other scat jibberish. Great stuff.
BENNY GOODMAN/PEGGY LEE, "Best of the Big Bands: Benny Goodman - Featuring Peggy Lee" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * 1/2
In her very first recordings, after being plucked by Benny Goodman from obscurity to replace Helen Forrest, young Norma Egstrom - soon rechristened Peggy Lee - sounds a bit tentative in places. But if her voice on "Elmer's Tune," "My Old Flame," "Somebody Loves Me," etc., is not quite as confident and fully developed as it would be later, she's still 10 times the natural talent many of today's young songbirds strive to be. Even underdeveloped Peggy Lee is rapturously full.
ARTIE SHAW, "Best of the Big Bands: Artie Shaw - It Goes to Your Feet" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * 1/2
Artie Shaw's unique stylings are the central reason to get into this one, the second of Shaw's collections in this series. With vocalist Peg La Centra on several cuts, such tuneful selections as "Sobbin' Blues," "Cream Puff" and the title tune, this disc makes for a "hep" listening. An added bonus is the booklet of liner notes, with Shaw's personal recollections of each and every number!
THE DORSEY BROTHERS, "Best of the Big Bands: Dorsey Brothers" (Columbia/Legacy). * * * 1/2
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were so successful with their individual bands that it may be forgotten by the casual listener that they began together for a scintillating, albeit brief union. But these pieces, with Bunny Berigan (and, on two numbers, Glenn Miller), illustrate very well the sensational chemistry they stirred up together. A real collector's item for Big Band fans.
GLENN MILLER, "Best of the Big Bands: Glenn Miller - Evolution of a Band" (Columbia/Legacy). * * *
Fans of the great Glenn Miller will find some interesting cuts among the 16 here, which chronicle, more or less, Miller's early rise . . . before he found his band's own "voice." Though not as recognizable as Miller's later work, the arrangements for "Sleepy Time Gal," "Humoresque," "Dipper Mouth Blues," etc., are enjoyable. And the redoubtable (and underappreciated) voice of Kathleen Lane delivers the goods on several numbers.
GENE KRUPA, "Best of the Big Bands: Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie" (Columbia/Legacy). * * *
"Drum Boogie" is probably the one cut here that is most readily identified with Gene Krupa, at least to the average Big Band fan (as opposed to fanatic). But there are plenty more on this disc to demonstrate Krupa's reputation as a one-of-a-kind showman, and you can almost see his frenetic form behind the drum kit. These 16 pieces (including such familiar songs as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Rhumboogie," "Tuxedo Junction," etc.), with Irene Daye frequently showing up on vocals, are gleaned from his early years, just after Krupa left Benny Goodman to strike out on his own
RED NORVO, "Best of the Big Bands: Red Norvo - Featuring Mildred Bailey" (Columbia/Legacy). * * *
Singular in his approach, and with the terrific stylings of Mildred Bailey, Red Norvo made quite an impression in the mid-'30s, and the songs here - "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," "Always and Always," the previously unreleased "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame," etc., are good, though some pieces seem to lack the impact they must had during those formative years. Still, the collection as a whole is appealing.
LES ELGART, "Best of the Big Bands: Les Elgart - Sophisticated Swing" (Columbia/Legacy). * * 1/2
These mid-'50s recordings of the elegant Les Elgart's uptown stylings will probably appeal less to the average listener than others in the "Best of the Big Bands" series, though there is much to be said for his interpretations of the title tune, "Big Man on Campus," "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and other selections here.