Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909-86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and eventually to play beside) some of the outstanding jazz musicians of the era. He played the clarinet for many years in Chicago and later in California. In 1928 he went to New York City, where in 1934 he organized his own orchestra. In 1935 he formed the Benny Goodman trio with Gene Krupa and Teddy Wilson; it became a quartet in 1936 when Lionel Hampton joined it. Performing for radio, motion pictures, and records, Goodman's orchestra became nationally famous. After 1939 he became known as the King of Swing. In the 1950s Goodman's many tours abroad gained him international esteem. He also achieved success playing classical music for clarinet, particularly with the Budapest String Quartet. He commissioned Béla Bartók to compose Contrasts, for violin, clarinet, and piano, in 1938. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and Morton Gould wrote music for him. Goodman wrote The Kingdom of Swing (1939) with Irving Kolodin.

Bibliography: See bio-discographies by D. R. Connor (1958 and 1969); study by J. L. Collier.

Goodman, Benny (1909–1986), jazz clarinetist and bandleader.Born into a poor Russian‐Jewish family in Chicago, Benny Goodman studied clarinet at Jane Addams's Hull House. A musical prodigy, he performed professionally at age twelve and in a traveling band at sixteen. As a teenager, Goodman became famous for playing “hot” clarinet solos, improvising like the New Orleans musicians who had invented jazz. Success in studio and radio work led Goodman to form his own touring band in 1935, which received mixed reviews until it played the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on 21 August 1935. Teenagers who had heard Goodman's broadcasts packed the club, and “swing” music was born. While no one agreed exactly what “swing” was, promoters quickly dubbed Goodman the “King of Swing.” On 16 January 1938 he became the first jazz bandleader to play Carnegie Hall, the country's premier high‐culture musical venue.

Goodman was one of the first big‐name bandleaders to feature African American musicians in his ensemble. The vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and the guitarist Charlie Christian received national exposure through his band. Black bandleaders like Edward (“Duke”) Ellington resented Goodman's raids on their bands, as Goodman offered salaries they could not match. Goodman's musicians were subject to his discipline and temper, however, and few stayed with him for more than one year.

High turnover coupled with physical exhaustion and the disruptions of World War II ended Goodman's reign as “King of Swing.” By the war's end, demand for small combos rendered Goodman's big bands obsolete. Playing concerts into his seventies, Goodman experimented with modern jazz and classical music; his later career, however, mostly celebrated his past.
See also Music: Popular Music.

Bibliography

James Lincoln Collier , Benny Goodman and the Swing Era, 1989.
Ross Firestone , Swing, Swing, Swing, 1993.

Jonathan Z.S. Pollack