Air Play
Artist: Benny Goodman

By virtue of both its content and the implication of its title, Air Play is the perfect companion disc to Columbia's double-disc On the Air set. Drawn from the personal collection of producer Bob Thiele, Air Play consists of performances from radio broadcasts dating between December 1936 and 1938, a period in which Goodman and his band were at... Read More

1939
Artist: Gene Krupa & His Orchestra

The European label's third Gene Krupa set reissues all of the recordings made by the drummer's big band during a five-month period in 1939. Although working steadily, Krupa's Orchestra had not broken through yet (it was still two years away from its prime period). With Irene Daye contributing ten pleasing vocals among the 22 selections and such... Read More

1930-1934
Artist: Jack Teagarden

This Classics CD has the first 23 titles ever issued under the leadership of trombonist Jack Teagarden. Many of these selections were formerly rare, particularly the earlier titles on Domino, Banner and Crown. Best is the session that co-starred pianist/vocalist Fats Waller and, while some of the titles are a bit commercial, Teagarden's playing... Read More

1938
Artist: Gene Krupa

The second Gene Krupa CD in Classics complete reissuance of his swing-era recordings has 22 titles from Krupa's Orchestra during the latter half of 1938. The big band did not yet have its own personality, but Irene Day was a fine pop/swing vocalist; Leo Watson is in typically eccentric form singing four goodtime numbers; the arrangements of... Read More

1935-1938
Artist: Gene Krupa

The first CD in the European Classics label's "complete" Gene Krupa series starts off with two all-star sessions that preceded the drummer's first dates as a big-band leader. Krupa, Benny Goodman, bassist Israel Crosby (featured on "Blues of Israel") and several sideman from Goodman's 1935 band jam four songs, and from the following year, Krupa... Read More

The Harry James Years, Vol. 1
Artist: Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

This is a really cool mid-price collection, the first of two assembling all of the Goodman band's work with Harry James. There are 21 tracks, covering a 13-month period that saw the Goodman band at the peak of its personnel and popularity, every day breaking new ground for swing even as that music had already swept the country. And, as Loren... Read More

The Golden Years, Vol. 2 (1938)
Artist: Count Basie

The Count Basie band got its big break in 1938, thanks to some stellar early Decca sides and a stay at New York's Famous Door nightclub. In fact, many feel the late '30s represent the group's best period, a time when Basie counted such jazz giants as Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Dicky Wells, Helen Humes, and Jimmy Rushing among his... Read More

The Birth of Swing
Artist: Benny Goodman

This three-CD set includes all of the Benny Goodman big band's recordings from April 1935 through November 1936, a period when the orchestra became the most popular and influential in the world, making both swing and Benny Goodman household words. Augmented by some alternate takes, this set shows just how solid and musical a unit Goodman had... Read More

Stompin' at the Savoy - BLUEBIRD
Artist: Benny Goodman
Carnegie Hall Concert (1938)
Artist: Benny Goodman

Although it has been superceded by the remastered, more extensively researched, and longer running Live at Carnegie Hall: 1938 Complete, this two-CD set issued in 1987 is still very worthwhile to the casual listener, and it has virtues that the reissue lacks. Mastered from a triple-LP set that had been cleaned up and edited at the time of... Read More

Bill Coleman 1936-1938
Artist: Bill Coleman

With such trumpet stars as Louis Armstrong, Red Allen, Rex Stewart, and Cootie Williams grabbing the headlines and the gigs, Bill Coleman found it hard to make a name for his own considerable talents during the nascent swing years. Like many other jazz figures (Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, etc.), Coleman looked to France and Europe for a... Read More