Jazz Legends: The Big Bands Vol. 2 - The Soundies
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DVD details
Actor: Bob Eberly, Cab Calloway, Charlie Spivak & Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey, Roy EldridgeBrand: Naxos OF America INC
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 48 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Storyville Films
DVD Reviews of Jazz Legends: The Big Bands Vol. 2 - The Soundies
DVD Review: Nothing great, but upon reflection, quite special.
Summary: 5 Stars
An enjoyable collection of 1940s "Soundies," recorded during the height of the Swing, or Big Band, Era, a time when music-making was still a specialized skill, deserving a James Petrillo and an AFM--and also a time, as Joe Williams once put it, when young people looked to adults for guidance, striving to grow up to be civil, cultured, more sophisticated, gentle and polite human beings--practically the direct opposite of the line of influence that would prevail in the 1960s, the latter marking the sea-change when music-making would become amateur sport, elevating folk and country forms above what had once been, at best, an art; at worst, a craft aspiring to be something better. Paradoxically, the rise of folk-country-rock and simpler forms was accompanied by a degree of commercialization beyond anything previously experienced or imagined with respect to music-making. Studio effects, big production "values," and "the gear" became as important (actually, more important) to the music industry as the product itself.
These movie clips may not be high in production values but, besides the nostalgia, they offer an inarguable degree of musicianship and "class" emanating from the subject and sounds themselves. The only segment representing something of a "revelation" for this viewer was the that featuring the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Tommy was definitely the more famous of the two brothers, for several years second in record sales only to another trombone-playing big band leader, Glenn Miller. Technically, his playing seemed extremely limited compared to the great jazz players--except for that smooth, golden tone and the phrasing that influenced his young male singer, Frank Sinatra. Jimmy, on the other hand, was the alto-clarinet player best remembered for "So Rare" (which, to be honest, was not all that rare as a piece of music).
But it was the indisputable master of jazz improvisation, Charlie Yardbird Parker, who insisted that Jimmy Dorsey was his favorite alto player. I never knew where he was coming from (and never actually took him very seriously) until seeing these clips of Jimmy with his band. The man is a pyrotechnical wizard on his instruments! The present clips don't provide much support of Jimmy as a jazz improviser, but they leave no doubt as to his stunning superiority as a reed player (especially on "Beebee").
Also of note: The initial clip of Artie Shaw playing "Lady Be Good" documents the period when, prior to moving up to Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich stayed long enough with the clarinetist to produce some swinging results. Both this and the succeeding number, Shaw's ambitious and successful "Swing Concerto," are filmed with artful superimpositions and cuts. The juxtaposition of Shaw's and Goodman's bands (Ella singing with Goodman) could not make the distinction between the two clarinet players clearer: Shaw is the instrumentalist as "matinee star," the Byronic individualist of the era with almost as many bands (5) as wives (8?); Benny, by contrast, is the low key, "ordinary"-looking player who's simply carrying on the tradition as it had come up from New Orleans to Chicago and made "palatable" to the entire nation thanks to Benny's natural musicianship and sincerity. One of Benny's numbers features a duet between Ella and Jo Stafford--in itself a surprise to many listeners, even those who experienced the era first-hand.
But the juxtaposition between the two clarinetist-band leaders supports the notion that whereas Benny was doing it, above all, for the sake of the music, Shaw was forever mindful of dramatic effect, or making an impression (the film doesn't show his orchestras with string sections and harpsichords or his "nearly" all-white bands, with the exception of hiring a more "authentic" black star like Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, or Billie Holiday for token effect (Billie was much happier with Goodman). When he sensed that his moment had passed him, Shaw didn't hang around to chase it, taking whatever opportunities might come his way: he abandoned the music, his ax, and never looked back. It's tough to second-guess his decision.)
[Belonging to the bizarre: during one of the Barnet numbers, the featured "soloists" are a pair of contortionists! (Dig the guitar player during one of the superimposed embeds on the succeeding "Skyliner": it's Barney Kessel.
[Clincher: No one of any age who has an interest in American music can afford to be ignorant of "Let Me Off Uptown," with Gene Krupa, Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge. Not only does this collection include that essential classic but it brings with it another spirited number by the same threesome!]
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Description of Jazz Legends: The Big Bands Vol. 2 - The Soundies
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