Under The Influence

I think I might have an obsession... actually, I know I have an obsession. With over 5 hours worth of Benny Goodman clocked up in my iTunes count today there's really no hiding it.

Most of today's effort has been spent consuming his famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert. I have to admit that I know next to nothing about swing. In fact, this week was the first time I sat down and investigated it. A dozen random downloads from emusic later I'd decided that Benny sounded like he deserved more attention. Shows how naive I am really as it turns out that his 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert is considered one of the great events in music history. And I can see why.

The album I grabbed off emusic yesterday weighs in at 3.7 (?!) hours long (apparently it includes some 1944-47 stuff too) but I didn't feel bored at any point during the listen. These guys really know how to get the crowd going.

With the whole swing angle I was hoping to find more tracks like Kai Winding's Comin' Home Baby and I think I found one in Sing Sing Sing. Definitely going to dig around in the swing section a bit more this week.