Benny Carter

Benny Carter – Jazz Giant (Remastered) (1958/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 39:15 minutes | 902 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Though he spent most of his life in Hollywood, Benny Carter (1907-2003) transcended any geographical style; for more than 70 years, he was just what he is called in this album–a giant of every jazz era. On Jazz Giant he displays three of his many talents, principally as an alto saxophonist, but also as composer on two numbers and trumpeter on two. The company he kept, with Ben Webster and Frank Rosolino rounding out the front line, and such fellow giants as André Previn, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar, and Shelly Manne in the rhythm section (Jimmy Rowles replaces Previn on two tracks), left no doubt that this album would be a milestone in straight-ahead, small-group mainstream jazz.
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Benny Carter – The Early Benny Carter (1968/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 29:46 minutes | 494 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Archive of Folk & Jazz Music

This budget LP just contains ten short selections and does not give personnel or exact recording dates. Recorded in London during 1936-37, the brief program does contain more than its share of rewarding moments, most notably the debut recording of Carter’s “When Lights Are Low,” the advanced “Waltzin’ the Blues” (performed at a time when jazz waltzes were unheard of), the atmospheric “Nightfall,” “Just a Mood” and a fine version of “Royal Garden Blues.” Carter is heard throughout, switching between alto, clarinet, tenor and trumpet.
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Benny Carter – Further Definitions (1966/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 33:49 minutes | 325 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Music Manager

Further Definitions is a 1962 jazz album by Benny Carter and his orchestra, rereleased on CD in 1997 coupled with his follow-up album, 1966’s Additions to Further Definitions. The earlier album features an all-star octet that includes Coleman Hawkins, with whom Carter had recorded in Paris in 1937, using the same configuration of instruments: four saxophones, piano, guitar, bass, and drums.
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