Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian is a 1972 double album collecting many of the few recordings that captured performances by Charlie Christian. Most of the selections are from sessions with Benny Goodman's bands. Until the advent of CD, it was considered to be the definitive "Charlie Christian" collection On some tunes, the producers spliced various takes together to include more of Christian's solos, or to create a better overall tune.

Track listing

Side 1

Side 2

Side 3

Side 4

Personnel

Track 1 Side 1 recorded in New York, 2 October 1939. Tracks 2 & 3 Side 1 recorded in New York 22 Nov 1939. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet): Track 4 Side 1 recorded in New York, 22 Nov 1939. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Orchestra): Track 5 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel was drawn from Metronome Magazine's annual reader's poll for the top instrumentalists. Metronome often gathered the winners (or near-winners) to record a few tracks together, and released the results on various record labels of the day. Metronome All Star Nine: Track 6 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet): Track 7 Side 1 recorded in New York, 7 Feb 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet): Same as Track 6, adding: Tracks 1-3 Side 2 recorded privately at a club in Minneapolis, MN, early Mar 1940, on acetate discs, by a local disc jockey. Personnel (Charlie Christian Sextet): Track 4 Side 2 recorded in Los Angeles, 16 Apr 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet): Tracks 5 & 6, Side 2 recorded in Los Angeles, 20 Jun 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman Sextet): Track 7, Side 2 recorded in New York, 7 Nov 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet): Tracks 1-4, Side 3 recorded in New York, 7 Nov 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie): Tracks 5-7, Side 3 recorded in New York 19 Dec 1940. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet): Tracks 1-3, Side 4 recorded in New York 15 Jan 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie): Track 4, Side 4 recorded in New York, 4 Mar 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Orchestra): Tracks 5 & 6, Side 4 recorded in New York, 13 Mar 1941 during warm-up sessions while members of the Benny Goodman Sextet waited for their tardy leader. Columbia Records' practice at the time was to record all takes, partial takes, and sometimes warm-ups, onto acetate discs. These two performances were culled from one such disc. Personnel ("Charlie Christian Jammers"): Track 7, Side 4 recorded in New York, 13 Mar 1941. Personnel (Benny Goodman and His Sextet featuring Count Basie):