CD, стоящие на полке рядом : Jazz (Retro Records)      

Compilation. Recording year/s: 1939-1941

In 1939, Duke Ellington employed a bassist in his early twenties named Jimmy Blanton, who revolutionised the use of the double bass in jazz. It was a remarkably similar story to that of Charlie Christian, a guitarist in his early twenties, who was recruited by Benny Goodman in 1939 and who revolutionised guitar playing by popularising the electric guitar. Even stranger was the fact that both men died tragically early of tuberculosis in 1942. In the space of three years, both men contributed enormously to the future of jazz, bringing their respective instruments into the limelight and demonstrating new ways of using them.

This double CD is one of a series of 20 albums from Le Chant du Monde, highlighting the work of individual musicians. One useful feature of the series is that tracks are arranged in chronological order, so that listeners can trace the development of each artist. This album begins with a September 1939 radio broadcast introducing "our new guitar player" with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Charlie Christian's solo is daring, including a quotation from Pretty Baby and demonstrating how the electric guitar can cut through with single-string lines. The next track has Charlie with a quartet led by tenor-saxist Jerry Jerome. Again, Charlie's solos are impressively clear, and we also hear how the chug-chug of his rhythm playing makes quite an impact.

Of course, Charlie Christian really made his name with Benny Goodman, and the collection consists mainly of his work with BG's small groups and big band (including his feature on Solo Flight). There are also three tracks from a Goodman septet which sounded like a Basie small group because it contained Buck Clayton, Lester Young and Count Basie. The rhythm section was Basie's familiar line-up, so that you can hear Charlie Christian and Freddie Green strumming side-by-side.

Count Basie is also present on one of my favourite tracks: a version of I Found a New Baby by the Goodman Sextet, with a splendid riff added behind the familiar melody, fine solos all round and dynamic drumming from Jo Jones. Another of my favourite recordings is the album's title track, caught when the group was warming up in the studio and someone suggested "Let's play the blues in B" - a challenging key which Christian negotiated with aplomb. I'm sorry they haven't included the informal Waiting for Benny which followed Blues in B in the studio, as it has the qualities of a jam session where musicians are just playing for pleasure - but making superb music in the process.

At any rate, this is a useful introduction to the work of an influential jazz musician whose innovations foreshadowed the bebop revolution. You might even call Charlie Christian the first guitar hero.

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