"Sextet Featuring Charlie Christian" (08/22/1989) Jazz Instrument Goodman, Benny, Legacy RecordingsPersonnel includes: Benny Goodman (clarinet); Charlie Christian (electric guitar); George Auld (tenor saxophone); Cootie Williams (trumpet); Count Basie, Johnny Guarneri (piano); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Artie Bernstein (bass); Gene Krupa, Nick Fatool (drums). Recorded in New York, New York between 1939 & 1941. Includes liner notes by Leonard Feather. Digitally remastered by Tim Geelan (CBS Records Studios, New York, New York). Personnel: Benny Goodman (clarinet); Charlie Christian (electric guitar); Georgie Auld (tenor saxophone); Cootie Williams (trumpet); Count Basie, Ken Kersey, Dudley Brooks, Fletcher Henderson, Johnny Guarnieri (piano); Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Harry Jaeger, Dave Tough, Jo Jones , Nick Fatool (drums). Liner Note Author: Leonard Feather. Recording information: Los Angeles, CA (10/02/1939-03/13/1941); New York, NY (10/02/1939-03/13/1941). Photographer: Frank Driggs. Like its companion reissue, GENIUS OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR, this offers eighteen digitally remastered cuts with thorough documentation and detailed liner notes. Charlie Christian is generally credited with establishing the electric guitar as a legitimate voice in jazz, and, despite his death at 23 from tuberculosis in 1941, his slender recorded output remained the one true standard for the instrument until the arrival of another self-taught incendiary, Wes Montgomery, in the 1950s. Christian's playing was full of blues devices, many of which were developed into riff tunes such as "Soft Winds," "Shivers," "AC--DC Current" and "A Smo-o-o-oth One," all heard here. "A Smo-o-o-th One" appears in a more nascent state on GENIUS as the air check "Waitin"For Benny"; this version and 'Breakfast Feud" are both previously unissued masters. Christian shines on the standards and ballads too, and if you remember a certain soothing credit card commercial of a few years back, you'll enjoy finally getting to hear the other two minutes and twenty-seven seconds of "I'm Confessin' That I Love You."
