Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall: new reissue, still incomplete

Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938 is an iconic record. It has been in print since 1950, and it offers a great snapshot of Swing at his height, not only musically but socially. However, to this day we don't have a complete issue of the music, as I explained in this previous post.

There's a new reissue just out—Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., Blu-spec CD2 SICP 30223-4. This has been released in the new Blu-spec CD2 format, but it's based on the previous official CD master (C2K 65143, from 1999), and therefore it's still missing half a minute of music, although the sound seems to have gained definition.

Unexpectedly... Biréli Lagrène

There are records that are not so good, but still hold pleasant surprises. Some are even memorable for just one tiny moment of glory.

One of those would be Jaco Pastorius's Stuttgart Aria. An irregular album, and Jaco's last, it rewards the listener who gets to its very end with Biréli Lagrène's solo on "The Days of Wine and Roses"; Lagrène was just 20 when he recorded it.

Biréli Lagrène is 47 today.

PS: Some years later, Jazzpoint released a double CD, Broadway Blues & Teresa, with music from the Stuttgart Aria sessions, without the keyboard overdubs. In Spotify you can listen to this reading of "Days of Wine and Roses", without synths.