Benny Carter
, like
Coleman Hawkins
, spent the '40s rubbing shoulders with
bebop
's young Turks, while mostly maintaining the style he forged during the early
jazz
and
swing
years. Possibly, like
Hawkins
again,
Carter
's '30s stay in Europe opened him up to the progressive nature of
and the necessity of always taking advantage of the music's complexities and malleability. And while
didn't ape
Charlie Parker
's alto flights or become a fixture at Minton's Playhouse, he did head up some fine big bands that featured the likes of
Miles Davis
,
Dexter Gordon
J.J. Johnson
Max Roach
, and
Howard McGhee
, to name a few
figures. This
Classics
discs takes in some of
's adventurous
big band
sides from 1946-1948, including a California outfit with
Davis
Gerald Wilson
. On the more traditional end,
is also heard with
contemporaries like
Buck Clayton
Ben Webster
. A fine document of the fertile transition from
to
. ~ Stephen Cook