Search - Benny Goodman :: Live at the Int'l World Exhibition

Goodman past his prime, but some nice work

02/21/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was originally available as a two-LP pair (not a box set) issued after the Goodman band played at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair in the US pavilion. The album doesn't indicate the considerable behind-the-scenes thrashing that went on, and this recording is the only real souvenir of the performances there. There's some very good work by Goodman's sidemen (such as Roland Hanna) and Jimmy Rushing provides some interesting vocals, but overall the recording seems a little flat. "Roll 'Em" is about the only track across the two discs that really catches fire... with all the other tracks it's clear it's basically Goodman with a mostly pick-up band. It's worth having as the best look at his work in those days, several years before some of the truly awful LPs like "Hello Benny!" and that one where he records "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life." But it's not the best work they could have done."