At Click 1948

Were it not for his tragic death in a car accident late in 1948, Stan Hasselgard might be remembered as one of jazz's top clarinetists. He had impressed Benny Goodman to the point that Goodman used him as part of his septet for a few weeks in 1948. Although no commercial recordings resulted due to a recording strike, the group (which also featured tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and pianist Teddy Wilson) was broadcast regularly from the Click in Philadelphia. Virtually all of the existing joint Goodman-Hasselgard airchecks are included on this Dragon CD, which adds a few more performances to the original program of the LP of the same name. The boppish music is often fascinating and Benny Goodman ("The King of Swing") fits quite well into the advanced arrangements. The recording quality is generally decent and, due to the historic nature of these timeless (and rather unique) performances, very acceptable. ~ Scott Yanow