ECLECTIC PLAYLIST #4 BENNY GOODMAN'S OPUS 1/2

Just to recap: my friend Tim and I have decided to 'broaden our musical listening' by sending each other two tracks every week. I'm hoping for some interesting (weird) music; I think Tim's hoping I won't be predictable (boring). So flows Matt and Tim's Eclectic Playlist.

I'm writing snooty reviews of the tracks Tim sends me, like some sort of wannabe music-snob.

The second track from Tim this week is Benny Goodman's Opus 1/2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rTVBLXnY8k

Benny Goodman was an incredibly famous jazz clarinetist and a bandleader in the 1930s. Here he is playing clarinet in this frenetic bit of high-speed 'railway' jazz.

You know what I mean by that? Listen to the drummer, Dave Tough. He's known as one of the most influential swing drummers of the 30s and he's worth a mention here. He's chugging along at an impressive speed, and is brilliantly accurate for three and a half minutes of capering by the vibes, the piano, the double bass and the clarinet.

What I notice about this is that it's incredibly tight. The vibes and clarinet parts are not easy, yet both often play the same phrases, perfectly in time and perfectly in sync, long before the days of click-tracks and quantization. This is recorded live and in the room of course, and it is just about perfect.

And I don't know what else you'd expect really. The vibraphone, the piano and the clarinet are all being played by the best-in-class of the 30s. Lionel Hampton (vibes), Teddy Wilson (piano) and Benny Goodman (clarinet) were all extraordinarily good at what they did. Just listen to the piano and vibe solos - measured, fun and incredibly skillfully performed. This teaches me something about solos - I reckon the key is keeping them simple, using the gaps as punctuation and throwing your heart in. That seems to be what these guys are doing.

Right, so what didn't I like? There are some recording issues - not surprising, given it was the 1930s. The vibes are resonant and some of the high frequencies are uncomfortable, but live, none of that would have mattered. What you'd have seen was a bunch of exceptionally talented guys having a lot of fun at the top of their game.

It's kind of toe-tapping isn't it? It makes me wonder where music like this has gone.