Teddy Wilson Trio Revisits The Goodman Years

Besides his reputation as the definitive swing pianist, Teddy Wilson is often remembered in terms of his collaborations. Having played on the records of names like Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Goodman, Wilsons fingerprints are found on many of records that helped popularize and define swing in its glory years. In 1980, Wilson revisited the songs he had performed with Benny Goodman in the 1930s, delivering material that he had clearly mastered at this point and which gave a special look into the talents and sentiments of Teddy Wilson that played a primary role in the swing era. Teddy Wilson Trio Revisits the Goodman Years sees Teddy Wilson re-portray the Benny Goodman small-group repertoire that Wilson had played with Goodman many decades before this Copenhagen session in 1980. It is a return to material that had stood the test of time while Wilson had lived a long career since his time with Goodman himself. Of the many collaborators that Wilson enjoyed in his career, Goodman in particular developed a strong, long-lived musical relationship with Teddy Wilson, incorporating the aspects and strengths of Wilsons playing that are particularly apparent on this record. Relaxed and elegant, Wilsons mastery of the piano sounds as graceful as ever while maintaining a sense of intensity that comes through with renewed clarity in the present line-up. Wilson has not reinvented himself in returning to these songs, but his talent and infectious and exciting playing make it hard to argue that he should.