The bulk of this CD reissues a brilliant 1982 session featuring altoist
Benny Carter with the tenors of
Plas Johnson and
Jerome Richardson, plus a variety of top European mainstream players including altoist
Arne Domnerus, clarinetist
Putte Wickman, trumpeter
Jan Allen, and pianist
Bengt Hallberg. Some of the music is reminiscent of
Carter's famous European four-saxophone session of 1937, and these renditions of "Doozy" and "Easy Money" are quite definitive and exciting. In addition to the eight original selections on the LP, eight other numbers from the 1929-1939 period have been added to the set to double its length. These include examples of
Carter's work on both alto and trumpet with
McKinney's Cotton Pickers,
the Chocolate Dandies, and
Lionel Hampton in Europe in the 1930s, and with
Teddy Wilson/
Billie Holiday ("Sugar"). All in all, this CD acts both as a reminder of how strong
Carter's 1982 date was, when he was a mere 75, and as a retrospective of his musical legacy.