''The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings'' is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
'', reviewer Scott Yanow described this set: "Classic music with many exciting moments from the King of Swing and his famous sidemen".Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 25, 2014 ''
JazzTimes
''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store.
Coverage
After a decade of growt ...
'' writer Jack Sohmer stated: "From a strictly musical point of view, the importance of these recordings cannot be overestimated. Goodman was then, as he is still now remembered, the prevailing master of swinging, inventive, hot clarinet and he had found ideal partners from the beginning". ''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...
Henry Creamer
Henry Sterling Creamer (June 21, 1879 – October 14, 1930) was an African American popular song lyricist and theater producer. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, ...
,
Turner Layton
Turner Layton (July 2, 1894 – February 6, 1978), born John Turner Layton, Jr., was an African American songwriter, singer and pianist. He frequently worked with Henry Creamer.
Life
Born in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1894, he was the s ...
Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films.
Biog ...
,
Robert Sour
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, hono ...
Otto Harbach
Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading B ...
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...
Reb Spikes
Benjamin Franklin "Reb" Spikes (October 31, 1888 – February 24, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist and entrepreneur. His composition with his brother John, "Someday Sweetheart", has become an often-recorded jazz standard.
Biography
Spikes w ...
,
John Spikes
John Curry Spikes (July 22, 1881 – June 28, 1955) was an American jazz musician and entrepreneur.
Along with his brother Reb Spikes, John ran a traveling show band in early 1900s. At one point, Jelly Roll Morton was a member of the band.''Th ...
) – 2:47
# "
China Boy
"China Boy" is a 1922 popular song written by Phil Boutelje and Dick Winfree.
Background
It was introduced in vaudeville by Henry E. Murtagh and popularized by Paul Whiteman's 1929 Columbia recording featuring Bix Beiderbecke. The song has become ...
" (
Phil Boutelje
Phil Boutelje (August 6, 1895, in Philadelphia – July 29, 1979, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles) was an American pianist, songwriter, composer, author and conductor.
Biography
Boutelje received specialized music training at the Philadelphia Musi ...
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer.
A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, ...
Sam H. Stept
Samuel Howard Stept (aka Sammy Stept; 18 September 1897 – 1 December 1964) was an American songwriter who wrote for Broadway, Hollywood and the big bands. He became known simply as Sam Stept or Sam H. Stept – he rarely used his full middle n ...
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...
, Billy Meyers,
Elmer Schoebel
Elmer Schoebel (September 8, 1896 – December 14, 1970) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Early life
He was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, United States.
Career
Schoebel played along to silent films in Champaign, Illino ...
Clay Boland
Clay Boland was a dentist and composer of popular songs. He was born October 25, 1903, in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, United States.
He studied dentistry at the University of Philadelphia. In 1924, he won a university competition for a prom song with ...
Eddie DeLange
Eddie DeLange (''né'' Edgar DeLange Moss; 15 January 1904 – 15 July 1949) was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duk ...
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...
,
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...
) – 3:16
# "Vibraphone Blues" (Lionel Hampton) – 3:20
# " Sweet Sue, Just You" (Will J. Harris,
Victor Young
Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor.
Biography
Young is commonly said to ...
) – 3:16
# "Sweet Sue, Just You" lternate Take(Harris, Young) – 3:24
# "
My Melancholy Baby
"My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett (1884–1959), the lyrics by George A. Norton.
Background
Ernie Burnett, who composed the music, was ...
" (Ernie Burnett, George Norton) – 3:24
# "
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Cong ...
" (
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...
) – 2:59
''Disc Two:''
# "
Stompin' at the Savoy
"Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City.
History and composition
Although the song is credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar ...
Edgar Sampson
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...
, Chick Webb) – 3:17
# "Stompin' at the Savoy" lternate Take(Goodman, Razaf, Sampson, Webb) – 2:47
# "
Whispering
Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains th ...
" (Richard Coburn,
Vincent Rose
Vincent Rose ''(né'' Vincenzo Cacioppo; 13 June 1880 Palermo, Italy – 20 May 1944 Rockville Centre, New York) was an Italian-born American violinist, pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Career
Rose holds one of the longest histories as a ban ...
, John Schoenberger) – 3:21
# "Tiger Rag" lternate Take(Original Dixieland Jass Band) – 3:21
# "Tiger Rag" lternate Take 2(Original Dixieland Jass Band) – 3:18
# "Ida! Sweet as Apple Cider" (
Eddie Leonard
Eddie Leonard (October 17, 1870 – July 28, 1941), born Lemuel Golden Toney, was a vaudevillian and a man considered the greatest American minstrel of his day, at a time when minstrel shows were an acceptable and popular mainstream entertainm ...
Irving Caesar
Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for T ...
,
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer.
A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, ...
Leo Wood
Leo Wood ''(aka'' Jack Wood; ''né'' Leopold Wood Lantheaume; 2 September 1882 – 2 August 1929) was an American songwriter and lyricist.
Career
Leo Wood was born in San Francisco to Louis Ferdinand Lantheaume and Hannah Marcuse Wood ''(maiden) ...
) – 2:37
# "
Avalon
Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
" (
Buddy DeSylva
George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...
,
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...
,
Vincent Rose
Vincent Rose ''(né'' Vincenzo Cacioppo; 13 June 1880 Palermo, Italy – 20 May 1944 Rockville Centre, New York) was an Italian-born American violinist, pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Career
Rose holds one of the longest histories as a ban ...
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
, Ira Gershwin) – 3:26
# "Smiles" (J. Will Callahan,
Lee S. Roberts
Leland Stanford Roberts (1884–1949), commonly known as Lee S. Roberts, was an American composer and pianist.
He is best known for his composition 'Smiles' with lyricist J. Will Callahan, written in 1917, but was a prolific composer across many ...
) – 2:59
# "
Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn. It was introduced in 1929 by Ruby Keeler (as Dixie Dugan) in Florenz Ziegfeld's musical ''Show Girl''. The stage performances were ...
" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin,
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...
) – 3:23
# "
Where or When
"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical ''Babes in Arms''. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. The song also appeared in the film version o ...
Vincent Scotto
Vincent Scotto (21 April 1874 – 15 November 1952) was a French composer.
Biography
Early life
Vincent Scotto was born on 21 April 1874 in Marseille to Pasquale Scotto d'Aniello and Antonia Intartaglia, from the island of Procida, north of th ...
Phil Baxter
Phil Baxter ''(né'' Philip Kerley Baxter; 5 September 1896 Rural Shade, TexasThe ''American Big Bands'' reference book gives Navarro, Texas as Baxter's birthplace. – 21 November 1972 Dallas) was an American songwriter, singer and band leader.
...
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...
,
Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American composer and musical director.
He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York.
He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he w ...
Sholom Secunda
Sholom Secunda (, Alexandria, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire13 June 1974, New York) was an American composer of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, best known for the tunes of ''Bei Mir Bistu Shein'' and ''Donna Donna''.
Biography
He was born in 189 ...
) – 3:21
# "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, Part 1" lternate Take(Cahn, Chaplin, Jacobs, Secunda) – 3:25
# "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, Part 2" (Cahn, Chaplin, Jacobs, Secunda) – 3:23
''Disc Three:''
# "
Sweet Lorraine
"Sweet Lorraine" is a popular song with music by Cliff Burwell and words by Mitchell Parish that was published in 1928 and has become a jazz standard. It is written in F major and has an AABA structure.
A version by Teddy Wilson charted in Octobe ...
" (
Cliff Burwell
Clifford R. Burwell (October 6, 1898 – October 10, 1976) was an American pianist and composer. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut on October 6, 1898. His most popular composition was "Sweet Lorraine," with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.
He playe ...
,
Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen.
Biography
Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...
) – 3:49
# "The Blues in Your Flat" (Hampton) – 2:32
# "The Blues in Your Flat" lternate Take(Hampton) – 2:31
# "The Blues in My Flat" lternate Take 2(Hampton) – 3:23
# " Sugar" (Edna Alexander, Sidney D. Mitchell, Maceo Pinkard) – 3:48
# "Sugar" lternate Take(Alexander, Mitchell, Pinkard) – 3:48
# "Dizzy Spells" (Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson) – 3:16
# "Opus 1/2" (Goodman, Hampton) – 3:22
# "I Must Have That Man!" (Fields, McHugh) – 3:23
# "
Sweet Georgia Brown
"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey.
History
Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricis ...
" (
Ben Bernie
Benjamin Anzelwitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 23, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...
,
Kenneth Casey
Kenneth Casey (January 10, 1899 – August 10, 1965) was an American composer, publisher, author, and child movie star in early silents.
Biography
Born in New York City, Casey worked as a child actor in over thirty films for Vitagraph Studios b ...
I Cried for You
"I Cried for You" is a pop and jazz standard with music written by Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman, with lyrics by Arthur Freed. It was introduced by Abe Lyman and His Orchestra in 1923. The recording by Benny Krueger and His Orchestra the same year p ...
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for '' An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...
,
Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including ''Your Hit Parade''.
His name at birth was Abra ...
) – 3:17
# "I Cried for You" lternate Take(Arnheim, Freed, Lyman) – 3:21
# "I Know That You Know" (
Anne Caldwell
Anne Marsh Caldwell (August 30, 1867 – October 22, 1936), also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was an American playwright and lyricist. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows, sometimes working with composer Jerome Kern.
Biography
Anne Ma ...
,
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer.
A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, ...
) – 3:01
# "I Know That You Know" lternate Take(Caldwell, Youmans) – 3:02
# "Opus 3/4" (Goodman, Hampton) – 2:53
# "Opus 3/4" lternate Take(Goodman, Hampton) – 2:58
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of many ...
,
Jess Stacy
Jesse Alexandria Stacy (August 11, 1904 – January 1, 1995) was an American jazz pianist who gained prominence during the swing era. He is perhaps best known for his years with the Benny Goodman band during the late 1930s, particularly his pe ...
– piano
*
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...
,
Dave Tough
Dave Tough (April 26, 1907 – December 9, 1948) was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States, Tough was a friend of Bud Freeman, who was p ...
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
Ziggy Elman
Harry Aaron Finkelman (May 26, 1914 – June 26, 1968), known professionally as Ziggy Elman, was an American jazz trumpeter associated with Benny Goodman, though he also led his group Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra.
Early years
Elman was born i ...
Martha Tilton
Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915 – December 8, 2006) was an American popular singer during America's swing era and traditional pop period. She is best known for her 1939 recording of " And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman.
Tilton was born ...