Search - Paul Whiteman :: Best of the Big Bands

Ignore the packaging and savor the music.

Lee Hartsfeld | Central Ohio, United States | 12/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD originated as an oddball budget LP issue about fifteen years ago, which, I recall, boasted two fewer tracks and had the same chintzy cover art--mainly, a photo of Whiteman taken some years after this material was recorded (1928-1930). Minus any liner notes or an explanation of any kind, we are offered ten outstanding Columbia-label Paul Whiteman tracks, several featuring cornet solos by jazz great Bix Beiderbecke. The Bix tracks include the marvelous "concert" recordings "Gypsy" and "Sweet Sue," arranged by Ferde Grofe and Bill Challis, respectively. And there's a 1930 train number called "Choo Choo," written (and probably arranged) by the great Matty Malneck; this gem is something of a blueprint for Duke Ellington's "Daybreak Express." Excellent things sometimes come in strange packages, and this CD is definitely an example thereof. At such a small asking price, this should not be passed up."