The Early Benny Carter

Throughout much of the 20th century, Benny Carter was an accomplished composer, arranger, leader, sideman, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2004 the U.K.'s Proper label served his memory well with Proper Box 68 which carefully examines a 22-year segment from his unusually lengthy career. If a reasonably priced 88-track, four-CD set of swing and early modern mainstream jazz dating from 1930-1952 seems like too much of a good thing, maybe you really need to hear more jazz and not less, for here in the land of its birth we still have a lot of catching up to do in order to better comprehend this important part of our cultural heritage…

To say that Benny Carter had a remarkable and productive career would be an extreme understatement. As an altoist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and occasional trumpeter, Carter was at the top of his field since at least 1928, and in the late '90s, Carter was as strong an altoist at the age of 90 as he was in 1936 (when he was merely 28). His gradually evolving style did not change much through the decades, but neither did it become at all stale or predictable except in its excellence. Benny Carter was a major figure in every decade of the 20th century since the 1920s, and his consistency and longevity were unprecedented…

Has there ever been a more consistent performer in jazz history over a longer period of time than Benny Carter? The classic altoist, who had fully formed his sound by the early '30s (he first recorded in 1927), has not altered his style much in the past 65 (and counting) years. The music on this Verve reissue CD features Carter in three settings: in a trio with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Jo Jones (those performances were only previously out in Japan), heading a quartet with pianist Don Abney, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Louis Bellson and showcased on three previously unissued tracks with the Oscar Peterson trio plus drummer Bobby White. Carter knew most of these standards extremely well and he glides effortlessly over the chord changes, infusing the music with swing and subtle creativity.

This CD, the fifth in Classics' complete chronological reissue of Benny Carter's early recordings as a leader, features his 1939-40 big band, an orchestra that never did catch on commercially. Most selections have trumpeter Joe Thomas, trombonist Vic Dickenson and pianist Eddie Heywood as the main soloists other than the leader (who plays alto and trumpet) although the last date on this disc has a reorganized band with trumpeter Bill Coleman and trombonist Sandy Williams among the principal players. among the highpoints from this enjoyable but underrated big band are "Savoy Stampede," "Scandal in a Flat," "Shufflebug Shuffle," "Night Hop" and "When Lights Are Low."

The second volume of the complete early Benny Carter from the European Classics label features Carter on alto, trumpet, clarinet and as arranger (in addition to contributing a bit of piano and even a vocal) on three numbers with Spike Hughes's all-star orchestra, as part of the 1933 edition of The Chocolate Dandies (an interracial outfit put together by Mezz Mezzrow) and with his own big band in 1933-34 and in England two years later. Highlights include "Symphony in Riffs," "Blue Lou" and "Everybody Shuffle."

Benny Carter - Swingin' The 20's (1958) {Contemporary Japan, VDJ-1562, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 210 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 159 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1958, 1986 Contemporary / VictorJapan | VDJ-1562
Jazz / Jazz Blues / East Coast Blues / Saxophone

Benny Carter swings material from the 20s – but the results are a lot better than you might expect! We'll be honest in saying that the cover and theme of this one always made us figure the record was some sort of "old timey" affair – but Benny's surprisingly cool on the record, and is working in a small group mode that may well be even more deftly compelling than his earlier combo sides for Verve! The group here is only a quartet – with Benny on alto and trumpet, Earl Hines on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – and it's possibly the modern rhythm section that gives the record a nicely soulful groove, and lets the tunes come off as more than just rehashed classics. Carter's tone on the alto is great – and very nicely recorded, with that edge that was showing up strongly in these later years.

Volume ten in the complete chronological recordings of Benny Carter, as compiled and presented on compact disc in 2006 by the Classics label, contains most of the originally issued master takes from his Verve and Victor sessions which transpired in New York and Los Angeles during the period between July 26, 1952 and January 4, 1954. What didn't make it onto this disc was a chunk of the Carter discography dating from August and October 1952, including the material released as the Alone Together album by "Benny Carter with the Oscar Peterson Trio and Buddy Rich" and a couple of tunes by Benny Carter's Orchestra with vocals by Savannah Churchill…

Benny Carter, like Coleman Hawkins, spent the '40s rubbing shoulders with bebop's young Turks, while mostly maintaining the style he forged during the early jazz and swing years. Possibly, like Hawkins again, Carter's '30s stay in Europe opened him up to the progressive nature of jazz and the necessity of always taking advantage of the music's complexities and malleability. And while Carter didn't ape Charlie Parker's alto flights or become a fixture at Minton's Playhouse, he did head up some fine big bands that featured the likes of Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson, Max Roach, and Howard McGhee, to name a few bebop figures…

Pursuing a similar path to one taken by Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter followed up a bountiful start during the early jazz and nascent big band years with an ex-pat stay in Europe. In addition to heading up the BBC Dance Orchestra, Carter recorded several big band and combo sides throughout the continent. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1938, he formed another big band in New York, eventually moved to the West Coast, and continued leading both large and small groups. This Classics disc takes up the story upon Carter's L.A. arrival in 1943 and covers the first three years of his still-ongoing residency in the south land…