Goodman Takes 7,000 on Nostalgia Trip
by Don A. Metivier, The Post-Star, August 15, 1974
It may have been 1974 but it sounded like 1938 Tuesday evening at the Saratoga Festival.
Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, returned to Saratoga Performing Arts Center to front a group of jazz all-stars for a two-hour concert of the music he made famous in the 1930s and 40s.
Playing better and stronger than he has in recent years, Goodman had the crowd of nearly 7,000 that filled the amphitheater and parts of the lawn, cheering every number.
During recent years, Goodman’s health had prevented him from long, extended periods of playing, especially the demanding swing music he made famous. Now he seems to be a chipper 65-year-old jazz immortal, who once again enjoys nothing better than standing in front of a group of super musicians and making his music.
The audience, many more than expected by Saratoga Festival officials, couldn’t have been happier, as Goodman, surrounded by such superior jazz players as Urbie Green on trombone, Zoot Sims on sax, Slam Stewart on bass, Hank Jones on piano, Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, Chris Griffin on trumpet, and newcomers Peter Appleyard on vibes and Ron Bedford on drums, recreated many of the songs from the 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz concert.
The music had the crisp, structured yet free sound that once was a Goodman trademark.
Goodman was no longer going through the motions, which was what happened when he put his original quartet back together a year ago for three concerts, but swinging with his old sound. Each of the musicians had an opportunity to display his talents singly, showing they had earned the right to be labeled jazz All-Stars.
Goodman has not stayed on top all these years without also keeping his act up to date, and he showed some interesting new changes Tuesday night.
Appearing with the group was jazz dancer Carmen de Lavallade. She danced twice with the entire group, then performed with pianist Hank Jones, to Bix Beiderbecke’s old jazz tune “In A Mist.”
That performance showed her dancing ability, Jones as a master jazz pianist and Bix as a musical genius at least 40 years ahead of his time.
Goodman was joined by his daughter Rachel Goodman, 31, on piano, and they performed the difficult “Grand Duo Concertante,” by Carl Maria von Weber, which was quite well done and very well received. “That was a groovy number,” Goodman told the audience, as he beamed proudly at his daughter’s curtain calls.
Goodman also broke away from the 30s jazz to perform a number from the Broadway musical “A Little Night Music,” and did an excellent job interpreting “You Must Meet My Wife” from that hit show.
Stewart, a favorite at Saratoga, performed Bobby Haggart’s jazz classic “Big Noise from Wanetka,” playing the part normally done by a drummer on the bass, with his bow, and dubbing in his unusual scat singing sound.
Tuesday’s concert must be rated Benny Goodman’s best performance ever at the Saratoga Festival, and let’s hope his record company puts a lot of his present playing on discs, because the “King” is back swinging.
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