Search - Benny Goodman :: Benny Goodman

Four Stars for Effort But......

04/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is what we needed - a comprehensive box set spanning Goodman's most creative years and including tracks from RCA and Columbia. Who else but JSP Records to take this on. Now the criticism. Like all JSP box sets it is bare bones, not much in the way of liner notes, history. No musician line up, recording dates. But that's OK we expect that from JSP and purchase recordings from them for the quality of the product. Most of us immediately associate JSP with John R.T. Davies and the miracles he has performed with digital transfers and remastering. Mr. Davies is prominantly listed on the box sets of the material he remasters. His name is missing from this box set and the sound is not what I have come to expect from his wonderful work, meaning someone else has remastered this set. The box states "From carefully selected originals." True, the source material is excellent and very clear. Noise reduction, however,is overused here. In fact there is virtually no surface noise whatsoever. While the noise reduction isn't as bad as some other recordings, it does dull the more quiet passeges and the music is just a bit muddy. This is more evident on the older recordings in this set. The music itself isn't as vibrant as it should be. It isn't horrible, no where near horrible. It tends to be a bit sterile though. If you compare some of the cuts to recent RCA and Bluebird Goodman releases, the RCA remastering cooks. The instrument and percussion jumps out of the speaker at you. You can feel the tone vibrating inside you. The trade-off is more surface noise and a little distorion on the RCA versions. In that sense this JSP box set is a bit disappointing. It's not a revelation like Davies work on Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. That is too bad. Goodman's work is important like Armstrong's is and both are a joy to listen to.Having said all of this I am giving this four stars. For effort and collecting so much of Goodman's work on one set. For the quality of the source material and Value. For twenty-plus bucks you can't beat four CD's of Goodman's band and small groups. And despite the criticism of remastering, it sounds better than eighty percent of what's out there. Until RCA attempts a Goodman retrospective like the Duke Ellington or Artie Shaw collections this will do just fine."

Marvelous Collection Awful Blunder

Fran | Florida | 04/15/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"What a fantastic overview of Goodman's earler work
But what a blunder. Serious Goodman collectors, serious jazz collectors, all must drool over this collection. Most others are not going to be interested, but what destroys the whole concept is the inane mixing of years. A REAL collector wants the music in chronological order. How else to appreciate the development of the band(s) through the decades represented. Instead we have 1939's "Lets Dance" followed by 1936's "Sing Sing". Then a few cuts later we hear 1942's "Mission To Moscow", and King Porters Stomp from 1935. After wandering back and forth through the years Disc 1 end with a cut from 1948 "Undercurrent Blues".
Disc 4 ends with one of the oldest sides in the collection "Madhouse" from 1935.
Part of the sound problem refered to in the other review is due, I believe, to the fact the older sides just can't be balanced with the "newer" sides. It would have ALL sounded better had the sequencing been chronological."

JSP hits another homerun!!

EM Rich | Eagle Mountain, UT | 01/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't be dissuaded from buying this box set by the previous reviews. This is an absolutely essential collection of Benny Goodman's music. This collection from JSP - God bless 'em - gives you the hits, gives you a good sampling of the small group recordings, gives you a really early Billie Holiday song, gives you Peggy Lee and Charlie Christian, and gives you a whole bunch of other really cool stuff that any jazz fan - or fan of good music in general - will appreciate.



Yes, the songs aren't in chronological order, but this REAL collector doesn't care. If you need the music in chronological order, put the music on iTunes, click the year arrow, and Tah-dah, you have them in chronological order.



To my ears - and granted they ain't what they used to be - the sound quality is fine. JSP did a great job with the transfers, probably from old 78's. Also, you can't beat the price and the song selection. You could literally spend hundreds of dollars buying this music from RCA and Columbia, or you could buy this package from JSP for a very reasonable price.



Finally, you owe it to yourself to hear one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century at his peak. This is great, great music. Disc 4 was the soundtrack to our New Year's Eve party, and it was a blast. People who had never heard Benny Goodman before were floored. If you have any interest in Benny's music at all, this is the package to get."