Music reviews about music that came out in 1937.
1. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Skip It” (8/10)
Some pretty knotty group writing in this one. I always like that stuff more.
2. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Nagasaki” (8/10)
The lyrics are nonsense but this is very up-tempo swing with strong solos by Carter, on more than one instrument of course, and other members of the band.
3. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Somebody Loves Me” (8/10)
Coleman Hawkins has joined! This track feels fairly traditional in terms of its writing but the energy is high (very ’20s) and the soloing is excellent.
4. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Pardon Me Pretty Baby”
A similar vibe to “Somebody Loves Me” where the song feels very ’20s but has some excellent playing and energy. I’m a sucker for the energy of jazz from the ’20s so I like these kinds of tracks even if they might be a bit regressive for 1937.
5. Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (7/10)
Shostakovich is a composer I have heard a lot about, but heard only some music from. His symphonic cycle is claimed by many to be the greatest of the 20th century. I have only heard a couple of these symphonies before and, if I’ve heard the 5th, I don’t remember hearing it previously.
Shostakovich is a more conservative, more traditional composer than the 20th century composers I usually enjoy. I understand that at much of that conservatism comes from the fact that he lived and worked in the USSR and was forced by threat of imprisonment or even death to write in certain ways. Given that, he still took some risks albeit, not with this symphony (from my understanding).
Shostakovich’s music has, for me, almost a Mahlerian quality to it, where you can hear the sophistication and the thought in the music, and you can hear the interest in more modern ideas, but everything is routed firmly in tradition. But this symphony strikes me as more conservative than some of the other pieces of music of his I’ve heard. Maybe it’s a piece I need to give more time, but it feels to me like this was not the place for me to start anew with his work (I haven’t listened to him in years) and I’m not as impressed as I was hoping to be.
6. Benny Carter and the Ramblers: “I’ll Never Give In” (7/10)
Certain swoony swing tracks really hit me and this is one of them. Can’t tell you why I like something like this more than something like “There’s a Small Hotel” but I do. (I mean, no vocals helps. Also: that saxophone part.)
7. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Mighty Like the Blues”
A swoony ballad but having both Carter and Hawkins on the track ensures for some pretty great playing.
8. Teddy Hill and His Orchestra: “King Porter Stomp” (7/10)
A fine big band cover of a Jelly Roll Morton track from 1923. Featuring Dizzy Gillespie.
9. Teddy Hill and His Orchestra: “Blue Rhythm Fantasy” (7/10)
Decent big band jazz. The usual inventive playing from Dizzy.
10. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “My Buddy” (7/10)
This one stands out due to all the piano breaks at the beginning, not something I normally associate with this ever of jazz.
11. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “I’m in the Mood for Swing” (7/10)
Decent up-tempo swing but it does feel very typical of the era and not necessarily much of a stand-out. (Though there is a piano solo!)
12. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “Lazy Afternoon” (7/10)
This is one of those swoony ballads that actually tries to convey a picture without lyrics, like a tone poem. The guitar is this is actually audible. Good sax solo.
13. Benny Carter and His Orchestra: “There’s a Small Hotel” (7/10)
Pretty swoony. I have definitely heard this one before but not recently enough to know whether or not this is a definitive take.
14. Benny Carter: “Blues in My Heart” (7/10)
A swoony ballad with some good soloing.
15. Teddy Hill and His Orchestra: “Yours and Mine” (6/10)
A big band vocal performance featuring a singer who doesn’t know how to pronounce “yours.” (I’m half kidding. Maybe that’s how they pronounced it in the 1930s.) Good Dizzy solo but not my favourite thing.
16. Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra: “Mean to Me” (7/10)
This is a ballad that features plenty of instrumental solos before you are even aware Billie Holiday is here (1:20 in). In both this and the earlier track, you can here the distinctness of her voice. No other jazz vocalist sounded like this.
17. Earl Hines Orchestra: “Honeysuckle Rose” (6/10)
The piano sounds way better mic’d (than Hine’s other recordings) so I am assuming this is the 1937 version, given how much clearer everything is. Pretty trad for that time, though.
18. Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra: “Stampede” (6/10)
“Stampede” feels like more of a bid to stay with the trend and have something to dance to. Not my favourite.