Charlie Christian

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, All Music Guide