AMG Review of Benny Goodman and His Great Vocalists

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

One doesn't often think of the Goodman band as a repository for great singers, but over the course of the 1940s, the King of Swing framed the band around some vocalists who delivered the goods as well as any others, nicely documented in this 16-track collection. Swinging performances from the likes of Billie Holiday, Helen Ward, Martha Tilton, Mildred Bailey (all 1930s recordings), Helen Forrest, Peggy Lee, Dick Haymes, Art Lund, and others make this a side of the Goodman discography that seldom comes up for air. Transfers are clean and the booklet comes with excellent notes from -Jazz Singing author Will Friedwald.