Falling in Love With Benny Goodman is part of RCA's mid-line Falling in Love With series, which focuses on romantic highlights from classic big-band, swing, and jazz artists. There aren't any risky choices on Goodman's volume, but that's fine, since each of the title's 16 cuts - including "Body and Soul," "The Man I Love," "Moonglow," "In a Sentimental Mood," "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You," and "The Glory of Love" - sustains a mellow, romantic mood. This record may not really be necessary, but for anyone looking for lovely, romantic music from Goodman, it's not a bad choice at all.

The first half of this chronological release of Benny Goodman's 1931-1933 recordings is comprised of dance band performances from 1931 - 12 selections with vocals from Paul Small, Smith Ballew, and Dick Robertson that have little to recommend them except excellent musicianship. The jazz content is pretty low and even Goodman is not heard from much. This is from the era when the clarinetist earned his employment as a studio musician. The final ten numbers are from 1933 and are of greater interest. Trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden is well featured on six songs, Billie Holiday makes her hesitant recording debut on "Your Mother's Son-in-Law" and "Riffin' the Scotch," and there are some fine solos along the way by both Jack and Charlie Teagarden, pianist Joe Sullivan, and Goodman. This is still Benny Goodman pre-history, for he would not attempt to lead a big band until 1934.

One amazing night in 1972, the greats of swing - Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Bennie Goodman - came together at New York's Philharmonic Hall for a jazz blowout. Joined by Dizzy Gillespie, hosted by Doc Severinson (then in his glory years at the helm of NBC's 'Tonight Show' band), these jazz pioneers reveled in the numbers with which they had changed the face of popular music more than thirty years before.

The 1937 Benny Goodman & His Orchestra are still considered one of the top big bands ever. With a trumpet section featuring Harry James, Ziggy Elman, and Chris Griffin; pianist Jess Stacy and drummer Gene Krupa in the rhythm section; the leader's clarinet; and his trio and quartet with Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton, it is no wonder that Benny Goodman was so popular during this era. The main addition to the band during the second half of 1937 was singer Martha Tilton, who fit in quite well. Highlights of this often-stirring program include "Roll 'Em," the quartet on "Avalon" and "Handful of Keys," "Sugar Foot Stomp," and a swinging "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day."

The first disk surveys film music from the thirties and forties; jazz was no longer "jungle music" (i.e., ludicrously termed as "non-white" music), but still "youth-oriented," as the liner notes assert. Off the bat, the best track is most certainly the eighth, Artie Shaw's all-too-brief Nightmare (from MGM's Dancing Co-Ed).

Benny Goodman was the first celebrated bandleader of the Swing Era, dubbed "The King of Swing," his popular emergence marking the beginning of the era. He was an accomplished clarinetist whose distinctive playing gave an identity both to his big band and to the smaller units he led simultaneously. The most popular figure of the first few years of the Swing Era, he continued to perform until his death 50 years later.

By the autumn of 1941, Benny Goodman's orchestra had taken on a polished, slightly oily aspect that was quite different from the bands he'd led a few years earlier. Pianist Mel Powell was now the arranger, Peggy Lee sang on most of the records, and the focus of the material often drifted away from authentically swinging jazz to include quite a number of pop tunes. This tendency is most dramatically demonstrated by two consecutive versions of "Buckle Down, Winsocki," with its John Philip Sousa intro and jocular group vocal. Although the arrangement gets hipper in midstream, one would never guess that the great Cootie Williams was in the band. Maybe nobody did - Williams left in mid-October, knocking the trumpet section down more than one peg…

The addition of Harry James to Benny Goodman & His Orchestra in January 1937 gave Benny Goodman one of the greatest trumpet sections ever with James, Ziggy Elman, and Chris Griffin all able to play both solos and lead. Gene Krupa's drumming became increasingly assertive during this period, adding excitement to the band even if Goodman was not sure that he enjoyed the change in the group's sound. Helen Ward's decision to retire at the end of 1936 was unfortunate (she would never regain the fame that she had at that moment) and it would take Goodman much of 1937 before finding the right vocalist. But with that trumpet section, Jess Stacy, Krupa, and the Benny Goodman Trio and quartet, not to mention the leader's clarinet, this was a classic band - the most popular in the music world…

Beautiful collection of "The King of Swing" with almost 5 hours of great early recordings between 1936 and 1945. In mid thirties, the "swing" new jazz style, became very popular mainly due to Goodman's success in Palomar, California (1935) and his legendary performance at the New York Paramount in 1937. The decade 1936-1945 was very creative for the amazing father of the Swing era. As with all releases in the "Hall of Fame" Past Perfect series, you will find included a nice 40p booklet, with extensive information on the artist and his work.

This Collector's Edition CD should be an essential item for classical music lovers. I also think that it's most important for people to know that Benny Goodman was recognized not only for his brilliant work as a jazz clarinetist,but also for classical works which were written for and dedicated to him by leading composers of the 2oth century such as Bela Bartok and Aaron Copland. This is an excellent recording that I would highly recommend.

In jazz, live recordings not only document an artist or group's sound in its purest form but, in rare cases, herald the arrival of a musical genre. That's the case with this invaluable, two-CD collection that captures clarinetist Benny Goodman's historic 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, which exemplified the so-called "swing era." Originally released in 1950, it contains rare commentary from Goodman and music from the entire event, which was a unique mix of formality and spontaneity. Goodman's perfect intonation and lyrical improvisation front the big band here, featuring the smooth solos of trumpeter Harry James, the percussive power of Gene Krupa - jumping the blues on "Don't Be That Way" - and the Fletcher Henderson - arranged "Sometimes I'm Happy" and "One O'Clock Jump"…