Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sabine Meyer: Homage to Benny Goodman

183

Sabine Meyer: Homage to Benny Goodman

By

View read count
Sabine Meyer: Homage to Benny Goodman
It took several years for this recording to make it to the United States after having been released to critical acclaim in Europe. Sabine Meyer is the First Lady of German clarinetists. Her brother, Wolfgang, though less well known across the pond, is no slouch either. The brother and sister team joins der Bramberger Symphoniker and the Bramberg Symphony and Big Band under the direction of Ingo Metzmacher to pay musical respects to Benny Goodman.

Homage to Benny Goodman is half classical and half big band, thereby blurring the distinction between the two. Goodman was associated with several classical clarinet compositions, among them Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Quintet (neither presented here, but both available), Malcolm Arnold's two clarinet concertos (the latter being commissioned by Goodman), and Aaron Copland's commissioned clarinet concerto. Goodman also performed clarinet pieces written for other jazz musicians, namely Woody Herman. Goodman was closely associated with Stavinsky's Ebony Concerto and Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs.



The disc is divided equally between the two clarinetists, with the pair sharing the billing on several of the big band arrangements. Ms. Meyer drives with confidence through the Copland and Stravinsky concertos, while her talented brother capable steers the Arnold concerto and Bernstein selection. Their playing is crisp and mostly interchangeable. The true fun of this recording is in the big band arrangements, particularly "Sing, Sing, Sing," "Tiger Rag," and "Goodbye." The band is crystalline perfect and complete transparent, very well prepared by Till Weser. Better late than never, this disc is a gem to be enjoyed by all fans of the difficult mistress.

Track Listing

1. Allegro Vivace - Wolfgang Meyer; 2. Lento - Wolfgang Meyer; 3. Allegro Non Troppo (The Pre-Goodman Rag); - Wolfgang Meyer; 4. Slowly And Expressively - Cadenza; - - Sabine Meyer; 5. Rather Fast - Sabine Meyer; 6. Allegro Moderato - Sabine Meyer; 7. Andante - Sabine Meyer; 8. Moderato - Con Moto - Sabine Meyer; 9. For The Brass - Wolfgang Meyer; 10. Fugue For The Saxes - Wolfgang Meyer; 11. Riffs For Everyone - Wolfgang Meyer; 12. Paganini Caprice 24 - Sabine Meyer; 13. Clarinade - Wolfgang Meyer; 14. Sing, Sing, Sing - Wolfgang Meyer; 15. Rachel's Dream - Wolfgang Meyer; 16. Clarinet A La King - Wolfgang Meyer; 17. Tiger Rag - Wolfgang Meyer; 18. Good-Bye - Wolfgang Meyer.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Homage to Benny Goodman | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: EMI Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.