Charlie Christian

Vol. 2 in the Masters of Jazz label's nine-part series devoted to the music of Charlie Christian focuses upon the studio, radio broadcast, and live recordings he made between November 4 and December 24, 1939. Most of these find him operating as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet; the first version of "Honeysuckle Rose" (track seven) is one of the few recordings that feature Christian with the Goodman orchestra. Tracks 15 through 21 were recorded live at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve 1939 during John Hammond's From Spirituals to Swing concert. Some of the selections are performed by the Kansas City Six, a Basie offshoot band consisting of Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Freddie Green, Walter Page, and Jo Jones with guest soloist Charlie Christian. "Lady Be Good," heard here as an edit, may be enjoyed in its original form on Vol. 9 in this series, as well as on Definitive's Complete Live Recordings of Charlie Christian. Like many chronologically presented historical retrospectives this disc is mostly recommended to those who wish to study the recorded evidence by comparing multiple takes and will not resent encountering recurrent instances of the same title. The whole point here is to savor these important episodic developments in the rapidly evolving art of jazz improvisation. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide