GOODMAN, BENNY

Jazz clarinetist and bandleader Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909–June 13, 1986) was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor immigrant parents. The children worked at early ages but also studied music. Benny showed talent on the clarinet, and he soon acquired a professional competence. While in Chicago Benny was exposed to "hot" African-American jazz, which deeply influenced his tastes.

At sixteen Goodman joined Ben Pollack's rising orchestra and began touring and recording. In 1929 he began freelancing in New York City to help support his family. He hoped to form his own band, but prospects during the Depression were dim. In 1933, though, the important young jazz promoter John Hammond (Goodman's future brother-in-law) hired the clarinetist to lead a recording ensemble. The two soon created a "hot" orchestra that challenged the dominance of "sweet" band music. Skilled white musicians, such as the trumpeter Bunny Berigan, drummer Gene Krupa, and Goodman's brother Harry, a bassist, were hired, as was the African-American arranger and ex-bandleader Fletcher Henderson. In 1935, appearances on the NBC Radio program Let's Dance inspired a cross-country tour. The final engagement at Los Angeles's Palomar Ballroom was a wild success. The band's youthful hot "swing"—performed by white musicians—arrived just as economic optimism stirred and young listeners were spending more on leisure. Extended bookings and recording contracts resulted; Goodman was dubbed "the King of Swing," and the big-band era had begun.

Hammond, a civil rights activist, encouraged the hiring of the pianist Teddy Wilson and the vibraphonist Lionel Hampton for recordings also featuring Goodman and Krupa. When the quartet appeared in public with the band, Goodman was credited by many with breaking jazz's color line. The combo's brilliant improvisations enhanced swing artistically and inspired other bandleaders to integrate. Goodman later hired such fine white and black players as the trumpeters Harry James and Cootie Williams and the guitarist Charlie Christian. The 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, instigated by Hammond, was a highlight of this period.

In the late 1930s Goodman confronted frequent personnel changes and competition from other bands. His popularity fluctuated, but his almost fanatical work ethic kept the band (and his own playing) at artistically high levels. After 1940 he would commission clarinet works from Béla Bartók and Aaron Copland and increasingly perform classical music. Jazz's most important white bandleader and clarinetist, Goodman established his reputation in his twenties and maintained it for the rest of his long career.

GOODMAN, BENNY

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