I Want To Be Happy – 1960
Benny Goodman
An exciting performance by Goodman’s tentet
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Ed Sullivan loved swing and he featured many of the top surviving big band stars on his show during the 1950s and early ‘60s.
Even though the swing era had ended 15 years earlier, Benny Goodman was still a household name in 1960 and very much in his musical prime.
For this uptempo version of “I Want To Be Happy,” Goodman leads his all-star tentet which consists of trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Urbie Green, altoist Jerry Dodgion, tenor-saxophonist Flip Philips, vibraphonist Red Norvo, pianist John Bunch, guitarist Jimmy Wyble, bassist John Mosher and drummer John Markham.
Goodman and Norvo have excellent solos but trombonist Urbie Green’s two choruses take honors during an exhilarating performance which even finds the clarinetist smiling.
-Scott Yanow
Stan Getz