Charlie Christian Selected Broadcasts And Jam Sessions CD

Recorded between 1939 & 1941. Includes liner notes by Nevil Skrimshire.

Personnel: Charlie Christian (guitar); Mike Bryan, Freddie Green (guitar); Benny Goodman (clarinet, trumpet); Skip Martin (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Gus Bivona, Gene Kinsey, Earle Warren, Rudy Williams, Jimmy Horvath, Les Robinson (alto saxophone); Don Byas, Georgie Auld, Jerry Jerome, Lester Young, Pete Mondello, Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone); Bob Snyder, Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Alec FILA, Cootie Williams, Ed Lewis, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Shad Collins, Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell, Buck Clayton (trumpet); Dicky Wells, Lou McGarity, Benny Morton, Dan Minor, Cutty Cutshall (trombone); Count Basie, Ken Kersey, Dudley Brooks, Fletcher Henderson, Billy Rowland, Joe Sullivan, Johnny Guarnieri, Albert Ammons, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Milt Raskin, Pete Johnson , Teddy Wilson, Walter Page (piano); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Red Norvo (xylophone); Harry Jaeger, Dave Tough, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones , Kenny Clarke, Nick Fatool, Taps Miller (drums).

Liner Note Author: Nevil Skrimshire.

Recording information: Carnegie Hall, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Catalina Casion, Hotel St Catherine, Santa Catalina Hot (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Clarke Monroe's Uptown House' Harlem, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Coconut Grove, Hotel Ambassador, Los Angeles, CA (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Detroit State Fair (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Empire Room, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Harlem Breakfast Club, Minneapolis, MN (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Madison Square Garden, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Manhattan Center, New York, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Minton's Playhouse, Hotel, Cecil, Harlem, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); New York, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Peacock Court, Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco, CA (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941); The Make Believe Ballroom, NY (08/19/1939-06/??/1941).

Director: Benny Goodman.

Arrangers: Jimmy Mundy; Skip Martin .

Read the title carefully: These are broadcast recordings that Charlie Christian made between 1939-1941. A majority of these shows were recorded with the Benny Goodman Sextet, but there is also material by the Goodman All Stars, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Count Basie & Friends, and the Kansas City Six. The real meat of this box, however, are the now-famous jam sessions recorded at Minton's Playhouse, Clarke Monroe's Uptown House, and the Harlem Breakfast Club. Over the years, these have been prized by Christian's fans as the purest examples of his genius and the possible birth of bebop, and there are enough of them here to warrant the purchase of the whole set. As for remastering, the quality of sound of the broadcasts is fair to poor, occasionally good; the jam sessions, however, are mostly clean, and sometimes surprisingly so. People interested in Christian's essential legacy need to first digest Columbia's Genius of the Electric Guitar box, but JSP deserves credit for assembling this rare material at an extremely affordable price. ~ Jim Smith

Personnel includes: Charlie Christian (guitar); Lester Young, Georgie Auld (tenor saxophone); Buck Clayton, Cootie Williams (trumpet); Benny Goodman (clarinet); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Johnny Guarnieri, Fletcher Henderson (piano); Freddie Green (guitar); Walter Page, Oscar Pettiford, Artie Bernstein (bass); Nick Fatool, Jo Jones, Gene Krupa, Kemmy Clarke (drums).

4CD box set.