[Dixielandjazz] Benny Carter show on RWJ

[Donald Mopsick]

DJML:

In 1991, I was a newbie on the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. Jim and Executive
Producer Margaret Pick were asking the band members for suggestions
for guests to appear on the "Riverwalk, Live From the Landing" (as it
was known then) public radio program. I had just read an article in
the Atlantic Monthly about Benny Carter, who at that time was in his
early 80s and still vigorously performing. Mr. Carter was a great
pioneer of jazz (some say roughly equivalent to Duke Ellington) but
also had the good fortune of surviving far longer than most of his
peers. After alerting Jim and Margaret to the article, Benny was
contacted and he appeared on the show. John Sheridan wrote some really
fine arrangements (which Benny enjoyed) of his big tunes like "When
Lights Are Low," "All That Jazz," "Symphony in Riffs," etc.

Well, more than 10 years later, after Carter's passing, we got Ed
Berger of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers (and Carter's
manager and biographer) to give an interview about Carter's RWJ
appearance. He had some interesting things to say, especially about
the place the broadcast itself had in jazz history.

By the way, Carter recorded an iconic version of "More Than You Know"
on trumpet in the '30s and considered himself primarily a trumpet
player. Not bad for a guy who practically invented saxophone section
writing single-handedly.

You can stream this show now at http://riverwalkjazz.org.

-- 
http://about.me/donmopsick