Continuous Benny Goodman until June 1!

[Doctor Strange]

The Jazz Department at Columbia University station WKCR-FM have outdone themselves this time: to celebrate BG's 100th birthday, they've begun a two-week, 24-hour marathon festival!

• 89.9 FM in the NYC area
  
• wkcr.org on the Web

Dig it, cats!

 

[Fletch]

They're gonna need all that time if they're gonna play every record BG ever made, and let Uncle Phil yap about 'em.

 

[Doctor Strange]

That's true, but as I've said before, I typically enjoy his obsessive analysis of arcane minutiae!

I've listened to several hours last night and this morning, and I haven't heard him do a set yet. (But I'll bet I do at drive-time this afternoon!) What I have heard is an outrageous amount of great music - both familiar classic cuts, and obscure live recordings and never-released stuff.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

It would be ever so good, to hear the old "Camel Caravan" shows complete with the clatter of knives and forks and the "Buzz" of conversation (just like being there)

 

[Brian Sheridan]

It figures! I go to the website to listen live and the station is asking for money. 2 weeks of BG and I pick the one hour for the pledge drive.

 

[dhermann1]

One of many celebrations

Dan Levinson's Big Band will do a concert celebrating Benny Goodman's 100 birthday in Flemington NJ, on May 29th, for those in the area:
http://www.hunterdon-chamber.org/EventDetail.asp?ACTION=ShowEvent&EventID=849
I was lucky enough to see Benny Goodman perform live at the Amphitheater in Chautauqua Institution back on the 60's. Unforgettable.

 

[skyvue]

I saw the Benny Goodman Quartet at Carnegie Hall just a few days after I moved to NYC in 1982. It was thrilling.

I even ran out to get a Goodman LP in hopes that he'd sign it and waited hours by the backstage door for him to emerge following the late show. When he finally came out, he moved brusquely past us few fans waiting for him there and quickly got into his waiting car.

Oh, well -- the show was great.

Here's a review:
http://bit.ly/goodman

 

[Fletch]

What I want to know is: Has Chicago got anything planned to honor their native son? Last I checked, the Goodman fanship was pretty much confined to the coasts, along with most interest in the music of the era.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Hey skyvue, I was at that 1982 Carnegie Hall concert too! It was great, though the sound was kinda weak where I was sitting (literally the last row, up near the ceiling.)

 

[skyvue]

Hey skyvue, I was at that 1982 Carnegie Hall concert too! It was great, though the the sound was kinda weak where I was sitting (literally the last row, up near the ceiling.)

Were you at the early show, too?

I was able to score a ticket a level or two up on the side, pretty close to the stage -- probably because I just needed a single ticket, since I didn't know a soul in NYC at the time.

I couldn't remotely afford the ticket (or the LP I bought, hoping for a signature), but it was money well spent.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

The Jazz Department at Columbia University station WKCR-FM have outdone themselves this time: to celebrate BG's 100th birthday, they've begun a two-week, 24-hour marathon festival!

• 89.9 FM in the NYC area
  
• wkcr.org on the Web

Dig it, cats!

Am digging now. Thanks, Doctor! The way Schaap goes on, I should be taking notes...

 

[Fletch]

Yes, Phil opened my eyes to a whole new way of experiencing this great music.

He actually managed to make it seem stale, depressing, and irrepressibly drab and awful. lol

"And whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in jazz historians they are a positive boon." -paraphrasing Monty Python's Vocational Guidance Counselor

 

[Doctor Strange]

Man, I wish I could listen now, but alas, my job's firewall stops all streaming media (and photo-hosting sites, personal networking sites, etc.) But I'll definitely have it on later in the car and at home!

Lots of folks can't handle Phil Schaap's encyclopedic presentation, but I think he's a national treasure.

skyvue - It was probably at the early show, but who remembers? I do recall that I had mail-ordered the tickets well in advance (soon after the jazz festival schedule was announced), and I brought a whole bunch of friends. (Including my ex-girlfriend and my just-met-after-getting-the-tickets new girlfriend. The only time I was ever in this extremely awkward situation!)

 

[Fletch]

Lots of folks can't handle Phil Schaap's encyclopedic presentation, but I think he's a national treasure.

He's definitely a regional one.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

It's Thursday, 9:30 am EST, anyone else having trouble with the internet steam from that station not loading?

It's driving me crazy because they are at the best period of BG's career!

 

[Cricket]

It may not be a complete selection, but while I am at work I listen to a lot of Benny Goodman tracks on radiolovers.com. There is a section dedicated to Goodman and then he has several listings in the Big Band section. I know that I saw a post where someone mentioned the Camel Caravan performances, and there are a few of those on there.
Great listening, and I have actually got a few people at work interested in Goodman.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Brian, they were still in 1937 when I listened as I drove to work at 7:00 ET this morning, so you can't have missed much. (They stopped the chronological presentation during the overnight and played other stuff.)

I was lucky enough to hear "Sing, Sing, Sing" yesterday afternoon... and was even luckier not to get a speeding ticket, as it really got me accelerating!

Afterwards, Schaap also played bits of the alternate take of the song, which were extremely interesting because BG's playing during the duet-with-Krupa portion were way out there, inventively far afield in terms of the melody, key, and rhythm. Schaap recalled that in an interview he had done with Teddy Wilson years ago, Wilson pointed to that moment as one of the early antecedants of free jazz...

 

[Feraud]

I've been enjoying BG too every evening on our new Tivoli radio. The sound from it is excellent.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Hilarious! They are playing the Camel Caravan shows complete with the cigarette commercials. Apparently, according to the announcer, dogs and people have similar nervous systems but dogs know how to take care of their nerves. People need to smoke Camels to ensure proper relaxation. Dogs lick themselves - maybe that's what keeps them stress-free.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Yes, Phil opened my eyes to a whole new way of experiencing this great music.

He actually managed to make it seem stale, depressing, and irrepressibly drab and awful. lol

"And whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in jazz historians they are a positive boon." -paraphrasing Monty Python's Vocational Guidance Counselor

He does go on...and on...and on...more music, less Schaap, please