St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1950-12-15
RATIN 9 TIL e
R Z G q r D s
BY J. Henry Randall


One reason we stick to this
business Of reviewing records, In
spite of the large numbers of dis
appointing pop" tunes, all Of
which follow more or less the
same pattern and go stale (within
a few months or even weeks) Is
the occasional appearance Of an
item which is synonymous with
our definition of hot jazz" II
may be a new release or a re-is-
sue of an oldie, one which Is def
initely a hallmark in the jazz
idiom.
Such a disc, or rather set of
discs, is the recently issued Ben
ny Goodman Carnegie Hall Jazz
Concert collection which was
our vote as one of the few top
waxings Of this or any year. The
set, issued only at the long-play-
ing speed. consists Of two IL
inchers taken from original wax
ings Of the memorable Goodman
jazz invasion of Carnegie Hall on
Jan. 16. 1sSS-snd thereby hangs
an interesting tale.
While the Goodman 14-piece
ork and IL guest stars were bus
lily engaged in rocking the rafters
with lie Hot Jazz, a concealed
overhead mike hooked up to CHS
studios. was relaying the proceed
ings, music, audience applause and
on-stage comments, onto acetates.
Two copies of the doing were
made, one which now reposes in
the Library of Congress and the
other being given to Goodman.
For his part, Goodman consid-
cred the discs a cherished keep
sake and played them occasional
ly for dinner guests. AS time
went on, however, the discs were
relegated to an issued status
among his effects and were all
but forgotten. For that matter,
Benny searched for them repeat
eddy, but failed to come across
them.
Eleven years later, they were
discovered in a sealed tin box in
a closet of his New York home.
When Goodman returned to the
Columbia red label last Summer,
he brought with him the lost"
copy Of the recorded king Of
Swing meeting Carnegie Hall"
Now released for the first time
for the consumption of all jazz
lovers Is the authentic account Of
that night, an account which win
always remain a collectors item
of rare distiction.
The personnel making up the
Goodman band at that time reads
as follows: Goodman, clarinet;
Hymie Schertzer and George Koe-
mig, alto saxes; Babe Russin and
Arthur Rollini, tenor saxes; Harry
James, ziggy Elman and Gordon
Griffin, trumpets; Vernon Brown,
Red Ballard, trombones; Gene
Krupa, drums; Allan Reuss, gui-
tar; Jess Stacy, piano, and Harry
Goodman, bass.
James, Elman and Krupa were
then making their individual bids
for popularity and with great sue
cess--a fact which was later pro-
ven when they assembled to the
leadership of their own guests.
The guest artists appearing
with the Goodman crew can be
roughly divided into four groups.
In one group was Martha Tilton,
vocalist and Bobby Hackett, cor
netist of the Blk Beiderbecke ira
dition, taking part in a musical
history of jazz.
Another group consisted Of
stalwarts of the Ellingtonian
school-Johnny Hodges, soprano
alto sax; Harry Carney, baritone
sax, and Cootie williams, master
Of the "growl" trumpet. In the
third group were Count Basic.
piano, and his X. C. levee blues
pacing stars, Lester Young, ten
or Sax; Walter Page, bass; Fred
dy Green, guitar; and Buck Clay
ton, trumpet.
Finally. there were Teddy Will
son at the piano and Lionel
Hampton on Vibes, who were then
two Of the members in the Good
man Trio and quartet. Goodman
was the other man in the trio and
with Krupa, rounded out the
quartet.
The tunes appearing on the set
consisted of regulars in the
goodman repertoire, recorded
specialties and popular hits.
Twenty-three of the original "a
have been used-the one not
showing being Sometimes I'm