: Live at Carnegie Hall: 1938 Complete - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman's January 16, 1938, Carnegie Hall concert is considered the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's "coming out" party to the world of "respectable" music, held right in that throne room of musical respectability, Carnegie Hall. This complete edition of the concert has added numbers missing from the three-album LP set which then became the source of the earlier CD release.  Phil Schaap, the producer of this complete release, was able to re-source the concert from original 78 rpm transcription discs and rescue numbers thought lost for ever, including Sometimes I'm Happy (the show's second number) and If Dreams Come True (the first encore). Other rediscovered additions include the unedited version of Honeysuckle Rose (with Harry Carney's two-chorus baritone sax solo and Buck Clayton's three-chorus trumpet solo).  The detail is startling, with soloists who are more up close than ever and even details from the audience reactions. Gene Krupa's drums have an extraordinary richness of tone, and the whole rhythm section finally gets its due as well, even Freddie Green's rhythm guitar solo during Honeysuckle Rose is gloriously enhanced. A word of caution however, Schaap has chosen to leave a lot of surface noise, in the interest of preserving the original concert ambience. Some may prefer the earlier release but only at a cost of missing out on the riches added in this release.