From Benny Goodman's live concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938, this recording is one of my favourite pieces of music ever. Where to begin? This is a very long piece; it was the last thing they played at the concert, apart from the encore. (Since it's so long, I'll give the approximate times as I describe what I'm hearing.) The piece starts with Gene Krupa on drums - the drums are the glue that holds the whole piece together. At the beginning, it's just another big band number - a great one, but not earth-shattering. Saxes and raunchy trumpets, then normal big band, then a clarinet solo. At 1:18, the drums lead us into another bit: this is actually the tune Christopher Columbus. More good big band. At 2:20, the drums lead us into another section. At 3:04, the drums are on their own again for a bit of a solo before the whole band joins in for what seems like a big finale, but a clarinet emerges from the applause at 3:55 and the music continues. At 5:21 the drums quietly introduce a trumpet solo by Harry James. At 7:35, another clarinet solo begins, punctuated by Krupa on every third beat. Goodman ends on a couple of really high notes (according to the liner notes, an A and a C). At 9:30, Jess Stacy's piano solo begins; he plays the main theme and then spins off into a couple of minutes of more reflective stuff. At 11:28, he tapers off, the audience applauds, and the drums come back. Four knocks on the cow bell herald the big finale and the piece is over!
This post is dedicated to my saxy cousin with her fancy new job!
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