VARIOUS ARTISTS (1999)

Presenting a mini-history of African-American music, the historic From Spirituals to Swing concerts of 1938 and '39 were high points of U.S. culture. This outstanding three-CD set of those performances and a related studio date unite such touchstone artists as the gospel ensemble Mitchell's Christian Singers, blues performers Ida Cox and Sonny Terry, boogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, and a dizzying collection of swing-era giants including Lester Young, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and vocalists Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing. Essential.

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