Light-Hearted Music for a Monday Morning

Here's the Daily OM Review and a few websites for more info about Benny G:http://www.bennygoodman.com/http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_goodman_benny.htmFebruary 5, 2007B.G. in Hi-FiBenny Goodman 1954You'd be hard-pressed to name a musician as important to the history of jazz as clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman. Regarded as the first major figure of the Swing Era, Goodman was also one of its most progressive. He earned swing music a newfound respect by bringing his various groups to concert halls as well as dancehalls and hired black musicians like vibist Lionel Hampton and guitarist Charlie Christian even as racial integration was taboo in many American venues. And that's not to mention the musicianship-whether the brass section was swinging a complicated arrangement with ease, or Goodman himself was flying high with one of his casually virtuosic clarinet solos, Benny Goodman's ensembles were always "on." Recorded 15 years after Goodman's popularity peaked, the 20 swinging tracks on B.G. in Hi-Fi aren't any worse for wear-they'll have you jitterbugging til there aren't any rugs left to cut.Goodman and company start off politely, welcoming their guests with the midtempo toe-tapper "Let's Dance." It's a gentle invitation; glowing saxophone harmonies give off a flickering, romantic feel, and Goodman's clarinet slips and circles around the melody like the Pied Piper, calmly leading us off our feet and onto the dance floor. By the time Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside" rolls around though, the jackets come off, the dress hems start flying all over the place, and the sweat starts to pour. A marching bass line and loose drum rhythm keep the tune simmering at a speedy pace, staccato horns throw in pinches of hot sauce, and piano, trumpet, sax, and clarinet solos stir the pot until it's nearly ready to boil over. That it does in the orgasmic final chorus, where the brass section is unleashed while everyone else solos at once. It's a grand moment of release-even the wallflowers must be reconsidering at this point.As great as the big band cuts are, the small ensemble numbers are the real gems of B.G. in Hi-Fi. Here we get to hear Goodman and Co. let loose, with time to let their solos develop and no need to compete with the reams of blaring brass on the bandstand. Goodman's solos on "Ain't Misbehavin'" are simply marvelous, each one made of phrases sweet and melodic enough to be sung; in contrast, Mel Powell's piano tremolo has a lascivious barroom feel to it, suggesting that maybe there's some misbehavin' going on after all. And in the off-kilter arrangements and speedy pace of "Get Happy," Goodman's good-time dance music crashes headlong into bebop territory, complete with a trumpet solo so fast it sounds like a drunken bumblebee. Big or small, Benny Goodman ensembles are still the tops for lindy-hoppers and jazz appreciators alike.