Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian is a 1972 double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 collecting many of the few recordings that captured performances by Charlie Christian

Charlie Christian

Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...

. Most of the selections are from sessions with Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

's bands. Until the advent of CD, it was considered to be the definitive "Charlie Christian" album (if you can call it that, since Christian never led a band that recorded professionally). On some tunes, the producers spliced various takes together to include more of Christian's solos, or to create a better overall tune.

Side 1

1. "Rose Room
   Rose Room
   "Rose Room", also known as "In Sunny Roseland", is a 1917 jazz standard by Art Hickman and Harry Williams. The name of the song's lyricist is unknown, and it is usually performed as an instrumental...
   
   " (A. Hickman
   Art Hickman
   Arthur G. Hickman was a drummer, pianist, and band leader whose orchestra is sometimes seen as an ancestor to Big band music. It fits into what are termed "sweet bands", something like that of Paul Whiteman. His orchestra is also credited, perhaps dubiously, with being among the first jazz bands....
   
   , H. Williams) – Benny Goodman
   Benny Goodman
   Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
   
    Sextet - 2:45
2. "Memories of You" (E. Blake
   Eubie Blake
   James Hubert Blake was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans...
   
   , A. Razaf) – Benny Goodman Sextet - 3:06
3. "Seven Come Eleven" (B. Goodman, C. Christian) – Benny Goodman Sextet - 2:46
4. "Honeysuckle Rose
   Honeysuckle Rose (song)
   "Honeysuckle Rose" is a 1928 song composed by Fats Waller, whose lyrics were written by Andy Razaf. Fats Waller's 1934 recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999....
   
   " (T. Waller
   Fats Waller
   Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
   
   , A. Razaf) - Benny Goodman and His Orchestra - 3:01
5. "All Star Strut" (Mergentroid) - Metronome All Star Nine
   Metronome All-Stars
   The Metronome All-Stars were a collection of jazz musicians assembled for studio recordings by Metronome Magazine, based on its readers' polls. The studio sessions were held in the years 1939-42, 1946-53, and 1956, and typically consisted of two tracks which allowed each participant a chance to...
   
    - 3:10
6. "Till Tom Special" (B. Goodman, L. Hampton
   Lionel Hampton
   Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
   
   ) - Benny Goodman Sextet - 3:00
7. "Gone With "What" Wind" (C. Basie
   Count Basie
   William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
   
   , B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman Sextet - 3:20

Side 2

1. "I Got Rhythm
   I Got Rhythm
   "I Got Rhythm" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the "rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes such as Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's Bebop...
   
   " (I. Gershwin
   Ira Gershwin
   Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
   
   ), G. Gershwin
   George Gershwin
   George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
   
    – Charlie Christian
   Charlie Christian
   Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
   
    Quintet - 5:46. A combination of two separate recordings.
2. "Stardust
   Stardust (song)
   "Stardust" is an American popular song composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics added in 1929 by Mitchell Parish. Originally titled "Star Dust", Carmichael first recorded the song at the Gennett Records studio in Richmond, Indiana...
   
   " (H. Carmichael
   Hoagy Carmichael
   Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
   
   , M. Parish
   Mitchell Parish
   Mitchell Parish was an American lyricist.-Early life:Parish was born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky to a Jewish family in Lithuania. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 on the SS Dresden when he was less than a year old...
   
   ) – Charlie Christian Quintet - 5:30
3. "Tea for Two
   Tea for Two (song)
   "Tea for Two" is a song from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is a duet sung by Nanette and Tom in Act II as they imagine their future.-Analysis:...
   
   " (I. Caesar
   Irving Caesar
   Irving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. He was born and died in New York.Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was...
   
   , V. Youmans
   Vincent Youmans
   Vincent Youmans was an American popular composer and Broadway producer.- Life :Vincent Millie Youmans was born in New York City on September 27, 1898 and grew-up on Central Park West on the site where the Mayflower Hotel once stood. His father, a prosperous hat manufacturer, moved the family to...
   
   ) – Charlie Christian Quintet - 4:28. Above 3 are amateur recordings at a Minneapolis nightclub.
4. "Boy Meets Goy (Grand Slam)" (B. Goodman) – Benny Goodman Sextet - 2:50
5. "Six Appeal" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman Sextet - 3:18
6. "Good Enough to Keep (Air Mail Special)" (J. Mundy, B. Goodman, C. Christian) - Benny Goodman Sextet - 2:54
7. "Wholly Cats" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie
   Count Basie
   William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
   
    - 3:03

Side 3

1. "Wholly Cats" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 3:01
2. "As Long As I Live" (H. Arlen
   Harold Arlen
   Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
   
   , T. Koehler
   Ted Koehler
   Ted L. Koehler was an American lyricist.-Life and career:Koehler was born in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver but was attracted to the music business, where he started out as a theater pianist for silent films. He moved on to write for vaudeville shows and Broadway, and he also...
   
   ) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 3:16
3. "Benny's Bugle" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 3:03
4. "Royal Garden Blues
   Royal Garden Blues
   "Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, it has since been recorded by numerous artists and has become a jazz standard...
   
   " (C. Williams, S. Williams
   Spencer Williams
   Spencer Williams was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs "Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New Baby", "Everybody Loves My Baby", "Tishomingo Blues", "Careless Love", and many...
   
   ) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 2:59
5. "Breakfast Feud" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet - 3:06
6. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby)" (D. Fields
   Dorothy Fields
   Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
   
   , J. McHugh
   Jimmy McHugh
   James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
   
   ) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet - 3:20
7. "Gilly" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet - 2:33

Side 4

1. "Breakfast Feud" (B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 4:24
2. "On the Alamo" (G. Kahn
   Gus Kahn
   Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
   
   , I. Jones
   Isham Jones
   Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...
   
   ) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 3:23
3. "I've Found a New Baby
   I've Found a New Baby
   "I've Found a New Baby", also known as "I Found a New Baby", is a popular song written by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams. It was introduced by Clarence Williams' Blue Five in 1926 and has since been recorded by many artists, making it a popular jazz standard.Spencer Williams and Palmer had...
   
   " (J. Palmer, S. Williams) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie - 3:00
4. "Solo Flight" (C. Christian, J. Mundy, B. Goodman) - Benny Goodman and His Orchestra - 2:45
5. "Blues in B" (B. Goodman) - Charlie Christian Jammers - 1:43
6. "Waitin' for Benny" (B. Goodman) - Charlie Christian Jammers - 5:06. The Jammers were actually members of the Benny Goodman Sextet; the above 2 tracks were warm-up recordings made by the Sextet on March 13, 1941 as they waited for the tardy bandleader.
7. "Good Enough to Keep (Air Mail Special)" (J. Mundy, B. Goodman, C. Christian) - Benny Goodman and His Sextet - 3:45

Personnel

Musical
Track 1 Side 1 recorded in New York, 2 October 1939. Tracks 2 & 3 Side 1 recorded in New York 22 Nov 1939. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet):

• Benny Goodman
  Benny Goodman
  Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
  
   — clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  
• Lionel Hampton
  Lionel Hampton
  Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
  
   — vibes
  Vibraphone
  The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
  
  
• Fletcher Henderson
  Fletcher Henderson
  James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
  
   — piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Charlie Christian
  Charlie Christian
  Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
  
   — amplified guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Artie Bernstein
  Artie Bernstein
  Arthur "Artie" Bernstein was an American jazz bassist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started his musical career playing cello on board cruise ships to South America, and also studied law at New York University. However, by 1929 he had started playing bass, and began performing in clubs around New...
  
   — bass
  Bass (instrument)
  Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
  
  
• Nick Fatool
  Nick Fatool
  Nick Fatool was an American jazz drummer.Fatool first played professionally in Providence, Rhode Island, which he followed with time in Joe Haymes's band in 1937 and Don Beston's in Dallas soon after. In 1939 he played with Bobby Hackett briefly, and then became a member of the Benny Goodman...
  
   — drums

Track 4 Side 1 recorded in New York, 22 Nov 1939. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Orchestra):

• Jimmy Maxwell, Ziggy Elman
  Ziggy Elman
  Harry Aaron Finkelman , better known by the stage name Ziggy Elman, was an American jazz trumpeter most associated with Benny Goodman, though he also led his own Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra....
  
  , Johnny Martel — trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  s
• Red Ballard, Vernon Brown
  Vernon Brown
  Vernon Brown may refer to:*Vernon Brown , big band trombonist from Benny Goodman's orchestra*Vernon Brown , member of the Indianapolis City-County Council...
  
  , Ted Vesely — trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  s
• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Toots Mondello
  Toots Mondello
  Toots Mondello was an American swing jazz alto saxophonist.Mondello played with Mal Hallett from 1927-1933 and also with Irving Aaronson's Commanders, Joe Haymes, and Buddy Rogers...
  
  , Buff Estes — alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  s
• Bus Bassey, Jerry Jerome
  Jerry Jerome
  Jerry Jerome was the 1912 Australian middleweight boxing champion. Born just outside Dalby, Queensland he was the first Indigenous Australian to win a major boxing title. He died in Cherbourg, Queensland. In his professional career he had 24 losses and 40 wins, with 34 by knock-out.- References :...
  
   — tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  s
• Fletcher Henderson — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Nick Fatool — drums

Track 5 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel was drawn from Metronome Magazine

Metronome magazine

Metronome Magazine was a music-guide magazine published from the 1881 until 1961.The magazine in its early years catered for musicians in marching and then dance bands, but from the swing era, Metronome focused primarily on the genre of Jazz music appealing to fans...

s annual reader's poll for the top instrumentalists. Metronome often gathered the winners (or near-winners) to record a few tracks together, and released the results on various record labels of the day. Metronome All Star Nine

Metronome All-Stars

The Metronome All-Stars were a collection of jazz musicians assembled for studio recordings by Metronome Magazine, based on its readers' polls. The studio sessions were held in the years 1939-42, 1946-53, and 1956, and typically consisted of two tracks which allowed each participant a chance to...

:

• Harry James
  Harry James
  Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
  
   — trumpet
• Jack Teagarden
  Jack Teagarden
  Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
  
   — trombone
• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Benny Carter
  Benny Carter
  Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
  
   — alto saxophone
• Eddie Miller — tenor saxophone
• Jess Stacy
  Jess Stacy
  Jess Stacy was an American jazz pianist who gained prominence during the Swing era.-Early life:Stacy was born Jesse Alexandria Stacy in Bird's Point, Missouri, a small town across the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois. In 1918 Stacy moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri...
  
   — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Bob Haggart
  Bob Haggart
  Robert Sherwood Haggart was a dixieland jazz double bass player, composer and arranger...
  
   — bass
• Gene Krupa
  Gene Krupa
  Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
  
   — drums

Track 6 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Lionel Hampton — vibes
• Count Basie
  Count Basie
  William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
  
   — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass

Track 7 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet):
Same as Track 6, adding:

• Nick Fatool
  Nick Fatool
  Nick Fatool was an American jazz drummer.Fatool first played professionally in Providence, Rhode Island, which he followed with time in Joe Haymes's band in 1937 and Don Beston's in Dallas soon after. In 1939 he played with Bobby Hackett briefly, and then became a member of the Benny Goodman...
  
   — drums

Tracks 1-3 Side 2 recorded privately at a club in Minneapolis, MN, early Mar 1940, on acetate discs, by a local disc jockey. Personnel (Charlie Christian Sextet):

• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Jerry Jerome — tenor saxophone
• Frankie Hines — piano
• unknown — bass, drums

Track 4 Side 2 recorded in Los Angeles, 16 Apr 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Lionel Hampton — vibes
• Johnny Guarnieri
  Johnny Guarnieri
  Johnny Guarnieri was an American virtuoso jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City, perhaps best known for his big band stints with Benny Goodman in 1939 and with Artie Shaw in 1940...
  
   — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Nick Fatool — drums

Tracks 5 & 6, Side 2 recorded in Los Angeles, 20 Jun 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Lionel Hampton — vibes
• Dudley Brooks — piano
• Charlie Christian
  Charlie Christian
  Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
  
   — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Nick Fatool — drums

Track 7, Side 2 recorded in New York, 7 Nov 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Cootie Williams
  Cootie Williams
  Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
  
   — trumpet
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Count Basie — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Harry Jaeger — drums

Tracks 1-4, Side 3 recorded in New York, 7 Nov 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Cootie Williams — trumpet
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Count Basie] — piano
• Charlie Christian
  Charlie Christian
  Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
  
   — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein
  Artie Bernstein
  Arthur "Artie" Bernstein was an American jazz bassist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started his musical career playing cello on board cruise ships to South America, and also studied law at New York University. However, by 1929 he had started playing bass, and began performing in clubs around New...
  
   — bass
• Harry Jaeger — drums

Tracks 5-7, Side 3 recorded in New York 19 Dec 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Cootie Williams — trumpet
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Ken Kersey
  Ken Kersey
  Ken Kersey was a Canadian jazz pianist who spent most of his life working in the United States....
  
   — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Harry Jaeger — drums

Tracks 1-3, Side 4 recorded in New York 15 Jan 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Cootie Williams — trumpet
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Count Basie — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Jo Jones
  Jo Jones
  Jo Jones was an American jazz drummer.Known as Papa Jo Jones in his later years, he was sometimes confused with another influential jazz drummer, Philly Joe Jones...
  
   — drums

Track 4, Side 4 recorded in New York, 4 Mar 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Orchestra):

• Cootie Williams, Alec Fila, Jimmy Maxwell, Irving Goodman — trumpets
• Lou McGarity
  Lou McGarity
  Lou McGarity was an American jazz trombonist, violinist and vocalist born in Athens, GA, perhaps most noteworthy for his works with Benny Goodman throughout the 1940s. During this period and throughout his career McGarity also collaborated often with Eddie Condon...
  
  , Cutty Cutshall
  Cutty Cutshall
  Robert Dewees "Cutty" Cutshall was an American jazz trombonist.Cutshall played in Pittsburgh early in his career, making his first major tour in 1934 with Charley Dornberger. He joined Jan Savitt's orchestra in 1938, then played with Benny Goodman in the early 1940s...
  
   — trombones
• Skip Martin
  Skip Martin
  Lloyd "Skip" Martin was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and music arranger....
  
  , Gus Bivona
  Gus Bivona
  Gus Bivona was an American musician.This reed player—covering a range of clarinets, saxophones, and flute—was at the height of the big band era. Following World War II, he was a staff musician for the MGM Studio Orchestra, playing on countless soundtracks and sessions...
  
   — alto saxophones
• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• George Auld, Pete Mondello — tenor saxophones
• Bob Snyder
  Bob Snyder (musician)
  Bob Snyder is a musician known for playing tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet, and flute. He has performed with the Airmen of Note, the Glenn Miller Air Force Dance Band, and Lionel Hampton. He also served as staff musician for Motown Records, Stax Records, and WJR radio...
  
   — baritone saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  
• Johnny Guarnieri — piano
• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Dave Tough
  Dave Tough
  Dave Tough was an American jazz drummer associated with both Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s...
  
   — drums

Tracks 5 & 6, Side 4 recorded in New York, 13 Mar 1941 during warm-up sessions while members of the Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

 Sextet waited for their tardy leader. Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

' practice at the time was to record all takes, partial takes, and sometimes warm-ups, onto acetate discs. These two performances were culled from one such disc. Personnel ("Charlie Christian Jammers"):

• Charlie Christian — amplified guitar
• Cootie Williams — trumpet (Track 6 only)
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Johnny Guarnieri — piano
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Dave Tough — drums

Track 7, Side 4 recorded in New York, 13 Mar 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie):

• Benny Goodman — clarinet
• Cootie Williams — trumpet
• George Auld — tenor saxophone
• Johnny Guarnieri — piano
• Artie Bernstein — bass
• Dave Tough — drums

Technical

• Chris Albertson
  Chris Albertson
  Christiern Gunnar Albertson is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer.He was born in Reykjavík and educated in Iceland, Denmark and England before studying commercial art in Copenhagen...
  
   - compilation producer, liner notes
• Gene Lees
  Gene Lees
  Frederick Eugene John "Gene" Lees was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and former journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States where he was a music critic and lyricist...
  
   - liner notes
• John Hammond
  John H. Hammond
  John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
  
  - liner notes