I'm Beginning to See the Light - Dance Hits from the Second World War

1	C Jam Blues / Duke Ellington's Famous Orchestra 2:38
2	Frenesi / Artie Shaw & His Orchestra 3:03
3	In the Mood / Glenn Miller & His Orchestra 3:34
4	Let Me off Uptown / Gene Krupa & His Orchestra 3:04
5	Taxi War Dance / Count Basie Orchestra 2:50
6	The Sheik of Araby / Coleman Hawkins All Stars 2:58
7	Pistol Packin' Mama / Al Dexter and His Troopers 2:48
8	American Patrol / Glenn Miller & His Orchestra 3:19
9	For the Good of Your Country / Count Basie Orchestra 3:15
10	Cherokee / Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra 3:15
11	Rose Room / Benny Goodman Sextet 2:49
12	Opus #1 / Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra 2:56
13	I'm Beginning to See the Light / Harry James & His Orchestra 3:13
14	Tuxedo Junction / Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra 3:17
15	One O'Clock Jump / Count Basie Orchestra 3:04
16	I'm Confessin' / Artie Shaw & His Orchestra 3:23
17	(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo / Glenn Miller & His Orchestra 3:16
18	Boogie Woogie / Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra 3:11
19	'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) / Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra 3:01
20	Sing, Sing, Sing / Benny Goodman & His Orchestra 8:39

Barnes & Noble

There's no subtlety about I'm Beginning To See the Light: Dance Hits from World War II, the second in the series of CDs associated with Ken Burns's seven-hour epic The War. It's about getting bodies in motion, and is a sheer delight from the git-go. Opening with Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra's shuffling "C Jam Blues" (which features a most unexpected outburst of country fiddle less than a minute into it), the disc goes on to chronicle an astonishing variety of music that fell under the rubric of Big Band -- from the jubilant "In the Mood" courtesy Glenn Miller & Hs Orchestra; to the country swing of Al Dexter's signature tune, "Pistol Packin' Mama"; to the loping grace of Erskine Hawkins's "Tuxedo Junction." Artie Shaw's great orchestra of the time is understandably represented twice, with the lush, jittery arrangement of "Frenesi" that features terrific clarinet soloing from Shaw over a lovely string arrangement, and a lighter-than-air string passage buttressing Shaw's keening clarinet soloing on "I'm Confessin'." And it's heartening to see Jimmie Lunceford and Charlie Barnett and their orchestras included, as they boasted two of the hottest lineups of the day, but usually lose out to the household names when these sort of retrospectives are assembled. David McGee

All Music Guide

I'm Beginning to See the Light is a companion to, but not the soundtrack for, The War, the 2007 PBS miniseries on World War II produced and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Whereas the soundtrack features a mix of new and old recordings intended to serve the purpose of the miniseries itself ("[to explore] the history and horror of World War II from an American perspective..."), I'm Beginning to See the Light features only recordings from the WWII era and keeps the mood buoyant and the rhythm upbeat (befitting its subtitle, "Dance Hits from the Second World War"). Disc producers Steve Berkowitz and Duncan Allardyee selected plenty of popular hits to evoke the era -- "Let Me Off Uptown" by Gene Krupa, "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo" by Glenn Miller, "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman -- but fortunately kept the focus on great music no matter what the chart position. The best orchestra of them all during the '40s, Duke Ellington's, leads off with the wonderful "C Jam Blues," and prime contenders like Count Basie, Artie Shaw, and Tommy Dorsey each get a pair of features. Also, the disc includes two songs whose direct theme is the war effort itself -- Basie's "For the Good of Your Country" and Miller's "American Patrol." And, instead of sticking with jazz throughout, the original honky tonk standard "Pistol Packin' Mama" comes early on. (Al Dexter's Western swing sounds just fine sandwiched between Coleman Hawkins and Glenn Miller.) Whether it's taken as a sampler of excellent, timeless music or as a soundtrack to the times that the documentary illuminates, I'm Beginning to See the Light is a very good set. John Bush