Benny Carter Plays Can-Can & Anything Goes

Another one swung over from the Cole Porter thing, this one though is a disc a ran across who knows where.
 Taken from a couple of short sessions recorded in '58. Both are fine blowing sessions that reflect the times perfectly. There some real stray tunes here that you don't get to hear much..


Don't know what it is, but CP seems to grab at my underlying pop sensibilities. I would figure I am not alone given that so many fine folk cover his songs. Get used to it, they're here to stay.

1. I Love Paris
2. C 'est Magnifique
3. It's All Right With Me
4. Allez-vous En, Go Away
5. I'm In Love
6. Anything Goes
7. All Through The Night
8. Waltz Down The Aisle
9. Buddy Beware
10.You're the Top

Benny Carter - alto
Hal Schaefer - piano
Joe Banjamin  - bass
John Drew - bass*
Gus Johnson - drums
Ted Sommer - percussion~
Teddy Charles - vibes*

recorded NYC. The Can-Can session~ was recorded 10/58, the Anything Goes* was recorded  11/58.

This was re-released by Lone Hill Jazz and is from their cd 

Jam Session - ARS recording

From the Jazz Division of the American Recording Society. This one is billed as "Jam Session" - and How The Blues Began. A heady title to be sure. While there were many fine dates later released as "blowing sessions" nothing ever beat the JATP blowing sessions. They set the standard for many recordings to come.
I did some (very little) research and it appears these tracks were not included with the "official" release of these sessions. I would assume time constraints were a major factor.

As much as I tend to dismiss Oscar Peterson as a utilitarian pianist, he gets a pass here. He deserves more credit than I usually give him.

Somehow ARS had the vision to release these tracks so that we can now enjoy them. I decided to tack on an extra track from another similar recording just because it makes me happy.

From what I can tell, this is how it all goes down....

Jam Session

1. Jam Blues No.1
2. Funky Blues No. 2
3. Funky Blues No.2 (cont.)
4. Mail Order Blues

in order of appearance -
1 - Ensemble, Flip Phillips (ts), Benny Carter (as), Oscar Peterson (p), Charlie Parker (as), Barney Kessell (g), Johnny Hodges (as), Charlie Shavers (tpt). J.C. Heard - drums, Ray Brown - bass.
recorded Hollywood 6/52 culled from Norman Granz Jam Session #1

2/3 - Roy Eldridge (tpt), Flip Phillips (ts), Bill Harris (tb), Herb Ellis (g), Dizzy Gillespie (tpt), Oscar Peterson (p), Buddy DeFranco (cl), Roy (again - over chorus). Louis Bellson - drums, Ray Brown - bass
recorded 10/30/54, NYC, culled from Norman Granz Jam Session #9

and the bonus track...
4. Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young (ts); Roy Eldrige, Dizzy Gillespie (tpt); Buddy Rich (d); Ray Brown (b); Oscar Peterson (p); Herb Ellis (g)
recorded 10/2/55 Chicago Opera House

ARS G-404/416

Benny Carter in Hollywood

Here at Chez Hook, we occasionally like to look way back to the swing era and see where some of our heroes have come from. These Benny Carter tracks are all live and I would assume taken from radio transcriptions.

There is not a lot i can say about this stuff. I am by no means an expert on swing era jazz, but as the old saying goes, "I know what I like". This I like quite a bit.

This is taken from a Swedish import lp that I honestly have no idea how I came into.

Benny Carter
In Hollywood

1. Jump Call (d)
2. I Can't Get Started (d)
3. Sunday (b)
4. Somebody Loves Me (b)
5. Early Boyd (c)
6. Rose Room In Sunny Roseland (a)
7. Love For Sale (c)
8. Sweet Georgia Brown (a)
9. Jubilee Jump (b)
10. Habanera (from Carmen) (c)
11. Sleep (b)
12. Without A Song (d)
13. Slick Mix (b)
14. Oofdah! (d)

(a) possibly Claude Dunson, Vernon Porter, Teddy Buckner, Freddie Webster (tpts); Alton Moore, J J Johnson, John Haughton (tbns); Benny Carter (alt/tpt/arranger);Porter Kilbert (alto); Hubert Myers, Gene Porter (ts); Willard Brown (bari/alto); Ted Branson (piano); Ulysses Livingstone (guitar) Curley Russell (bass); Oscar Bradley (drums)
recorded late 43 or early 44

(b) probably from the same period as (a) but with Sonny White on Piano

(c) possibly Irving Lewis, Fred Trainer, Gerald Wilson, Emmett Berry, Paul Cohen (tpt); Henry Coker, Alton Moore, George Washington, Lewis Taylor (tbn); Benny Carter (alto/arr); Jewell Grant, Porter Kilbert (alto); Bumps Myers, Harold Clark (ts); John Taylor (bari); Rufus Webster (paino); Herman Mitchell (guitar); Charlie Drayton (bass); Max Roach (drums)
Hollywood 1945

(d) including PaulCohen, Ira Pettiford, Walter Williams (tpt); Al Grey, Clarence Ross (tbn); Benny Carter (alto/tpt/arr); Bumps Myers (ts); Willard Brown (bari/alto); Sonny White (piano); Jimmy Cannady (gtr); Thomas Moultrie (bass); Percy Brice (drums)
c. August 1946


Jazz Society AA 502

Benny Carter/Phil Woods - My Man Bennie My Man Phil

Hard to believe this record was recorded over 20 years ago. I like to think of these great old jazz guys as eternal.

Here's a Hooks Gems admission. Somehow I always think of alto sax as...second tier...thinking the real masters played the tenor...but then I think of these two, and Pepper and Bird...and well the list goes on.

Admission #2 - the record languished on the shelf unplayed for many years. It wasn't until I was trying to unclutter than I decided to give it a spin with fresh ears. Kinda glad I did. It's a great record. Not a scorcher, but one of those records you can pull out once in awhile and really enjoy. Let's be realistic, that was a way of life with rock and roll records for the first 20 - 25 years of record collecting, at least a cd doesn't take up much room.
And at this point I enjoy a blowing session far more than a mediocre rock record.

Benny Carter/Phil Woods
My Man Benny, My Man Phil

1. Reet's Neet
2. Just A Mood (II)
3. Sultry Serenade
4. We Were In Love
5. My Man Benny
6. My Man Phil
7. Just A Mood (I)
8. M.A. Blues
9. People Time
10. I'm Just Wild About Henry

Benny Carter - alto, trumpet (4, 9), vocals (6)
Phil Woods - alto, clarinet (4)
Chris Neville - piano
George Mraz - bass
Kenny Washington - drums

recorded 12/21-22/89 NYC

This is actually taken from a cd for a change...
Music Masters MM 5036-2-C