Benny Goodman - The Chronological Classics: 1942 (2003)

By the beginning of 1942, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Artie Shaw had succeeded in popularizing swing to the point where jazz-flavored pop music was penetrating into areas where undiluted jazz had previously been deemed unacceptable. It was Goodman who had deliberately integrated some of his ensembles during the early and mid-'30s, violating the entertainment industry's segregationist policies by recording and jamming in public with Teddy Wilson, Charlie Christian, Lionel Hampton, and Cootie Williams. Shaw had featured Billie Holiday and Hot Lips Page and Dorsey would hire Charlie Shavers in 1945, but Goodman consistently chose to work with black musicians during a time when U.S. society was even more bigoted than it is today. At the same time, Goodman maintained a "safe" presence in the entertainment world by recording a steady stream of slick, lightweight pop tunes, most often sung by Peggy Lee. By employing crooner Art Lund, Goodman was competing with Tommy Dorsey, whose vocalist, Frank Sinatra, was beginning to attract a lot of attention. During the first half of 1942, the song "A Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal)" spread like measles throughout the entertainment industry. Based upon a fashion statement hijacked from Latino and Afro-American culture, this giddy ditty was also recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Kay Kyser, Paul Whiteman, Bob Crosby, Ray Herbeck, and Harry Roy, and was even performed by Dorothy Dandridge on a two-bit 16-mm rear-projection "soundie" film short. Goodman's version is perky and very danceable. At its best, the Goodman orchestra was an impressively well-oiled swing machine. In addition to a famous recording of Tiny Bradshaw's "Jersey Bounce" and a smooth cover of Glenn Miller's hit "A String of Pearls," the old-fashioned material heard on this disc is mighty tasty. Goodman's quartet and sextet cooked up excellent renditions of the old "Wang Wang Blues," W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and a venerable "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise." Published in 1915 by Shelton Brooks, "Darktown Strutters' Ball" is presented here as a good clean big-band stomp arranged by pianist Mel Powell. The toy surprise in this package appears in the form of a swanked-up set of swing variations on themes from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.