Over the holiday weekend I "cut up and cleaned up" over 70 tracks by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra performing at The Madhattan Room in NYC. I got the sound quality sounding "pretty darn good" and I think you will enjoy them. Many of these songs were never recorded by Goodman in the studio.
In the Fall of 1937, Benny Goodman had a season long engagement at The Madhattan Room in New York City. Swing was about to explode onto the forefront of American culture and Benny Goodman and his talented orchestra were on the rise and leading the charge.
Goodman had also been featured at that same venue in the Fall of 1936 and in the Spring of 1937, but this engagement was different. There was a national wide "buzz" around Benny Goodman at this point and CBS Radio planned on beaming live remotes of these gigs to their affiliates.
The Madhattan Room was located on the lower level of the Hotel Pennsylvania, which also contained the legendary Café Rouge. The Madhattan Room wasn’t as glamorous or as large as the Café Rouge, but it had fine acoustics and its small size and low ceiling provided an intimate feel to the music.
These broadcasts catch Goodman and his band, in my opinion, at their best. Martha Tilton had just joined during the summer and had fully adjusted into her lead vocal role. The band featured Gene Krupa, Harry James, Jess Stacy, Ziggy Elman, Art Rollini, Harry Goodman and other greats. Teddy Wilson, and Lionel Hampton were also being featured in Goodman's trio and quartet. In fact, this was pretty much the same lineup that appears in the famous Carnegie Hall Concert of 1938.
So keep in ear out for these great songs that have just been added to the Swing City Radio rotation.
