Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert Complete

Never felt inclined to write a product review before. This product has motivated me to.I have the Columbia Jazz Masters copy of the 1938 concert and it is a great reproduction of the albums. There are others out there and I only have this one and the Avid version (now).I like and collect re-masters and am a huge fan of the Mobil Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL), especially the stuff that was made in Japan back in the "day".I started researching the concert and there is a lot of material about this historic event and I will not go into it here (read the product description). The amazing thing is the recording: Made in 1938 on acetate (the technology of the time) than moved to LP and eventually to CDs. Great stuff but lots of pops and background noise seeing how there was just one microphone recording at the time and the technology. This version is good to have so you can have a feel for how it originally sounded.Not sure how Avid accomplished this but am grateful to the team that assembled this re-mastering. Truly Amazing!The concert is clear and with the additional tracks: Sometimes I'm Happy and If Dreams Come True this is a recording that is not only clear and really enjoyable to listen to but has extra "stuff"! Separating Honeysuckle Rose into separate parts for the solos is great fun and when listening to them there is no pause from start to finish- GREAT STUFF!The other recordings are as meticulously assembled: (Selections from) "Benny Good Man in HI FI", A Date with the King" (with Rosemary Clooney and Benny Goodman singing together) and the complete "Benny Goodman Story" Sound track (The label says that "Date with the king is Scarce and it and the Complete soundtrack "The Benny Goodman Story" are presented here for the first time on CD - Neat). (Disclaimer I do not have these other albums and have nothing to compare them to so cannot comment if they are missing anything). When comparing the songs of the later albums to the concert the sound is spot on and you would think the concert was done at the same time as the BG in HI FI (1950)!!!A great 4 CD set with a wonderful set of liner notes. Strong Recommend for anyone that enjoys this style of music or wants to learn how really cool it is!!!One Curious "Thing" The CD is labeled GOLD REMASTERS. These are not GOLD CDs (like MSFL and other labels provide). Regardless of what it means the recordings are terrific.

This is a preliminary review that I shall edit on receipt of the set.It should be noted that the title is misspelled by Amazon. Should be "Carnegie" not "Carnigie" and the disc and track information also appears to be incorrect as there should be 4 discs, not two.The correct information can be found on the Amazon UK site, where you will see that the album tracks are not the same as listed.Although I have not yet received the album, I HAVE listened to some tracks from it on BBC Radio 2's Malcolm Laycock Show, and it sounds like this album has some superb material, beautifully remastered, incorporating the Carnegie Concert followed by some excellent small group material from the 1950's and the complete recordings for the movie "The Benny Goodman Story", so I think this set may be well worth having.Here I paste a summary, again from the Amazon UK site, that may be of interest.AVID Entertainment are proud to present a new re-mastering of the truly legendary 1938 Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Concert in stunning sound quality for a recording of this vintage, helped no little by the wonderful acoustics of the theatre: sections that remained unissued for over 50 years are included. In addition, new re-masterings of classic mid-50's albums in great sound including, for the first time on CD, the complete set of recordings for the soundtrack of the film `The Benny Goodman Story' and a scarce 10" LP `Date With the King'. Sidemen featured on this boxset include: Stan Getz, Buck Clayton, Urbie Green, Charlie Shavers, Ruby Braff, Dick Hyman, Harry James, Mel Powell, Teddy Wilson, Claude Thornhill, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa & Jo Jones*******UPDATE********Well eventually it came, and I wrote a fairly detailed review and then managed to lose that review before posting it, so I am going to make this snappy.This is a great package. The sound is well engineered and restored and very nicely packaged with a very informative booklet. A real labor of love, and may contain all the BG you will ever need, though you might like to add the BG with Charlie Christian CD.Here quoted from elsewhere on Amazon is a review of the same material as disc 3 of this set:"Superb CD! If you just purchase one Goodman CD--let it be this one. None of his big bands ever sounded more mature, well rehearsed, and sharper than this group. This is about as good as big band music gets! (The sound quality is very nice, too)."And disc 4:"This is an amazing recording from 1955 that features Benny with an all-star studio orchestra featuring Harry James, Lionel Hampton, and Ruby Braff. These re-recordings of some of Benny's most famous songs are stunning replicas of vintage 1930s style swing a la Fletcher Henderson as they were meant to be heard, in clear, brilliant Hi-Fi sound. Some of these arrangements even come close to surpassing the original recordings, such as "Down South Camp Meetin'" (with the driving bass line provided by George Duvivier propelling the whole thing). Also, Benny himself sounds fresh and inspired in this session, playing with more fire and energy than in any other of his fifties recordings. Just one drawback, Bobby Donaldson and Don Lamond fail to capture the Krupa magic with their drumming as evident by "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Donaldson) and "Don't Be That Way" (Lamond). Wouldn't it have been great if Gene Krupa would have been present at this session with Goodman and James as he was in the film version? Nonetheless, this is a must-have BG CD, one that documents his real contribution to jazz."And here is part of a review of the Carnegie Hall concert as remastered by Avid, i.e, the same thing as you are getting here, also from Amazon:"This CD set by AVID is the best remastering of this amazing concert ever! I have all other versions available on CD including the best-selling one remastered by Phil Schapp (which is so shrill and crackly that it is unlistenable). This is the set to buy."HOWEVER, it is only fair to point out that while the Carnegie Hall concert was a tremendous performance--one of the greatest in the history of jazz--it was very poorly recorded with a single microphone onto acetate discs, and while every effort has been made to clean up the sound, there are parts where, like a country road in low lying terrain, the music submerges completely in some spots. The single microphone seems to have been located somewhere near Lionel Hampton's vibraphone, but a long, long way from the piano, which can hardly be heard. The good news is that versions of many of the included songs appear elsewhere in the box set in sonically superior versions.

In college, I worked in the "Audio" department and, in listening to every Benny Goodman CD they had, I stumbled across a recording of this 1938 Concert at Carnegie Hall. I don't know which company produced that set, but the quality was fair ("B+" at best). When I graduated I looked high and low, and eventually purchased the Columbia "re-mastered" version of the concert. BIG mistake. The pops and crackles are so loud, you can hardly even hear the musicians ("D" quality). The Avid Records UK version, however, is AMAZING. Not only is the sound even and well-mastered, the low-volume solos are captured extremely well and there are no loud pops or distortions. For a master-to-CD transfer, I give this recording an "A" (which is the highest you'll find for this performance). This concert radiates energy and innovation; BUY IT.

The 1838 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert has eliminated the "pops" and "ticks" on the older Sony/Columbia set but substitutes shrill, distorted high frequencies. The older Sony set has better overall sound, noise and all.The BG in HiFi section duplicates the Capitol LP but omits the three extra tracks on the Capitol CD.Sound quality of "The Benny Goodman Story" is extremely shrill with heavy distortion. Only severe cutting of the "highs" render this section bearable.

Having friends that give recommendations comes in handy. "One of the best live shows ever recorded." He was right.

This is simply the best jazz recording of the era. End of discussion.The quality is mediocre. Not of the CD, but of the single microphone on stage. They really didn't think about the recording quality at all so some of the instruments are way too close and some way too far - no proper balance.Still, this is the best available CD of the best jazz concert.

This is, in my opinion, the best transfer we have yet had of the Carnegie Hall concert of 1938. It s also complete in that the sections that surfaced on the recent Sony issue are included. In addition, this issue includes some of the very best of Goodman's recordings in the 1950's. These include most of the Capitol albums 'BG in Hi Fi' and 'Mr Benny Goodman' and a beautiful small group session 'Date with the King' recorded for Columbia in 1955 with Buck Clayton and Rosemary Clooney. The four disc set concludes with the complete soundtrack recordings made for 'The Benny Goodman Story'. Although the original arrangements are used, solo spots are not copies of the old routine. It is fascinating to hear Stan Getz's tribute to Lester Young in the tenor solo in 'One O'Clock Jump' and Goodman is continually stimulating both in big band and small group settings. The old quarted is reunited and Hampton, Wilson, and Krupa sound splendid together. Teddy Wilson also is band pianist throughout as Jess Stacy didn't take part in the sessions.A splendid reissue.

Another review seems superfluous, so just briefly. This four set CD release from Avid contains the historic 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert in its entirety. Also included is music from the film "The Benny Goodman Story" (recorded 1955) featuring many of the "original musicians" who played with goodman in his hayday....and there's more too. Four jam packed CDs of great swing band music from "The King Of Swing". No gripes about the sound quality; good informative booklet; great value.

I have had the original Philips vinyl records since the late 1950's and this transfer to CD by Avid's engineers is excellent, detracting nothing from the original performance. The accompanying booklet is likewise excellent and informative. No need to add anything about the musical content as it has all been said before - just wish I could go back in time to attend what must have been a groundbreaking and thrilling concert.

Despite the scratches and variable sound it has the presence of the Night in question. One is hearing history being made and an audience that is getting more and more excited!! Great foot-stomping fun all the way through!

Excellent recording of a wonderful night's music. Sound quality is spot on and gives a full flavour of one of the classic jazz concerts.