This is the Original Benny Goodman Quartet! Except for guest bassist George Duvivier, it’s the same amazing group, along with the rest of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, that brought down the house with their Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938! The concert has been described by critics as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history … jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.” The Quartet, which went on to perform for years to follow, was one of the first integrated jazz groups to achieve popularity during a era of pervasive racial segregation.
In 1972 Timex reunited clarinetist Benny Goodman, pianist Teddy Wilson, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, drummer Gene Krupa — adding Duvivier on bass — for a television special from Lincoln Center in New York. Like Timex watches, which were always said to “keep on ticking”, this timeless group still kept on swinging. Goodman’s “Avalon” (Top) and the ever popular “Moonglow” (Lower) are here to prove it.
