‘Rose Room’
Music by Art Hickman,
Lyrics by Harry Williams
Performed by the
Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian
Recorded Oct. 2, 1939
2:45
The guitar was not thought of initially as a natural jazz instrument. The sound was too soft to compete with the brass and drums of the big bands. Therefore, it was used primarily as a rhythm instrument.
It took Charlie Christian and the invention of the electric guitar to change that. Utilizing an amplifier, the electric guitarist could make himself heard above the surrounding musicians. However, it took a musician of Christian’s genius to make the instrument essential.
Christian grew up in Texas, the son of musicians. He developed his skills on the electric guitar and soon gained a reputation for his work. Record producer John Hammond encouraged him to try out with Benny Goodman. Goodman was reluctant to try him. However, he gave him a chance at a date in a Los Angeles restaurant. Goodman had his band play “Rose Room,” which fortunately Christian knew inside and out. The song went on for 45 minutes, with Christian improvising an incredible 20 choruses. He was hired.
Christian became part of Goodman’s fabled sextette and performed extensively until his death in 1942. His supple single-note style of play fit in perfectly with the sound Goodman was trying to produce. Before Christian’s demise, he is said to have coined the phrase “bebop” for the new and challenging type of jazz he was pioneering with a few other musicians in L.A.
The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Billie Holliday sings ‘Strange Fruit.’
