Benny Carter

And it features Phil Woods on alto sax, Hal Galper on piano, Bill Goodwin on drum, Steve Gilmore on bass, Tom Harrell on trumpet.

Now, Phil Woods was influenced by Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter.

He studied at the Manhattan School of Music, Mary Chan Parker, the common-in-law wife of Charlie Parker.

And right now, we're going to give you a double dose of Mr. Lou Donaldson.

I feel like the most blessed person on the planet to have come along the path that I came musically.

From 13 years old, you know, starting with Ray Charles at 14, he was 16, and going through Clark Terry and Basie and Benny Carter, everybody from Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, all the way to 50 Cent.

Wow.

[laughs] Wow.

And of course, I love the costumes and the, you know, the, the wild dress up and the over-the-topness.

It's like Ziggy Stardust meets Benny Carter and wins kind of thing.

Mm.

It ...

He is on trumpet.

Now, Phil Woods was influenced by Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges, studied at the Manhattan School of Music, and he was married to Charlie Parker's common-in-law wife, Chan Parker.

And I guess he believed that he was the new bird so much, he ended up marrying his bird's common-in-law wife, Chan Richardson.

Right now, we're going to get into some jazz fusion.

But that was a pretty quick stint, and he ultimately went back to Duke.

I would say that along with Benny Carter in the 1930s especially, Hodges has to be considered to be one of the definitive alto saxophone players of the entire big band era.

Now, in the record we just heard...

Johnny and his orchestra were, in actuality, the front name for one of the many Duke Ellington small bands.

¶¶

¶¶ . . .

I mentioned the equally great alto saxophonist Benny Carter a few moments ago, a contemporary of Johnny Hodges.

So for you, I just played...

She was an acclaimed jazz vocalist who graced the Hollywood's elite nightclub scene for decades.

Also toured with Duke Ellington and Benny Carter.

Dave Street passed away in 1971 at the age of 53 from cancer.

He was a 1940s big band singer and actor who regularly guest starred with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and served as an early host for the pioneering TV variety show Broadway Open House.