Benny Goodman: The First Big Bands, Original Performances 1934-38

In 1934, Benny Goodman assembled his first permanent swing big band and took up a residency at Billy Rose's Music Hall in New York. What followed was nothing short of a cultural revolution. Heard coast to coast on the National Biscuit Company's Let's Dance radio show, Goodman's orchestra ignited a generation of listeners who had grown up in the shadow of the Depression and were hungry for something vital, joyful, and alive. By 1938 he was being called the King of Swing — and the recordings gathered here explain precisely why.

This CD, part of Robert Parker's Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo series, presents eighteen of Goodman's finest performances from that defining four-year period, transferred to digital from mint-condition original 78 rpm pressings. Robert Parker's meticulous restoration process — creating new digital stereo impressions from mono originals — gives these recordings a presence and warmth that brings the listener startlingly close to the bandstand. The snap of the snare, the shimmer of the brass, the liquid clarity of Goodman's own clarinet: all of it rendered with a fidelity that belies the age of the source material.

From the playful swagger of Nitwit Serenade to the monumental Sing, Sing, Sing — eight minutes and forty-two seconds of big band music at its most elemental and thrilling — this is a collection that rewards close listening as much as it rewards dancing. An essential document of American music's golden age, and a superb introduction to one of its greatest architects.

Track Listing

1. Nitwit Serenade (2:45)
2. Cokey (2:57)
3. Music Hall Rag (3:09)
4. Blue Skies (3:33)
5. Dear Old Southland (2:45)
6. Madhouse (2:45)
7. Breakin' in a Pair of Shoes (2:17)
8. Get Happy (3:06)
9. Christopher Columbus (3:33)
10. Walk Jennie Walk (1:57)
11. Bugle Call Rag (2:57)
12. Jam Session (2:53)
13. Sing, Sing, Sing (8:42)
14. Bumble Bee Stomp (2:49)
15. Topsy (2:58)
16. Smoke House (2:54)
17. My Honey's Lovin' Arms (2:28)
18. Farewell Blues (2:11)

Product Specifications

• Artist: Benny Goodman
• Series: Robert Parker's Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo
• Label: CDS Records Ltd
• Catalogue Number: RPCD 634
• Format: Audio CD
• Tracks: 18
• Recording Period: 1934–1938
• Genre: Big Band / Swing / Jazz / 1930s
• Weight: 127 g (4.48 oz)
• Dimensions (standard jewel case): 142 mm × 125 mm × 10 mm (5.6 in × 4.9 in × 0.4 in)
• Barcode: 5022818199726
• Condition: Preloved