Rare Docs: Goodman and Byas

Two rare videos surfaced this week. The first is The Art of Performing, taped for television in 1967. It features Benny Goodman (cl), Clark Terry (tp,flglh), Zoot Sims (ts), Hank Jones (p), Gene Bertoncini (g), Milt Hinton (b) and Ed Shaughnessy (d). Earlier versions of this taping were bottle green and largely unwatchable.

The second is a Dutch documentary called Homecoming, focusing on tenor saxophonist Don Byas and his one-time return to New York in 1970. The artist who Byas refers to as his best friend is pianist Jaki Byard. The band he plays with is the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Earlier versions of this film on YouTube have been blurry.

Here are superb versions of the two documentaries in a single YouTube clip...