Benny Goodman

The King of Swing Benjamin David Goodman (Benny Goodman) born on May 30, 1909 and died on June 13, 1986. He was an American bandleader, clarinetist and swing musician. In the 1930s Goodman was the lead of one of the most popular music groups in America.
His professional debut was at the Central Park Theater in Chicago in 1921. He played the clarinet in a dance hall band and at 16 joined the Ben Pollack Orchestra. He moved to New York City and became a highly successful musician. He played with Ben Pollacks' band and in 1928 played with Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. In 1928 Goodman and Glenn Miller wrote Room 1411.
1935 saw Goodman and his band playing to enthusiastic crowds. They played their own music and radio broadcasts carried the band's performance. The Jitterbug and swing was now a dance craze.
In 1938 Goodman and his band became the first jazz ensemble to play Carnegie Hall. They started out with a history of jazz and then began a jam session on Honeysuckle Rose featuring Count Basie and Duke Ellington as guests. As the concert moved, things got lively and the band received five curtain calls and cries for encores. This concert is one of the most significant appearances in jazz history.
In the late 1930s and early 40s, Goodman began to play classical music on his clarinet. Clarinetists praise Goodman for bring 20th Century chamber music to the clarinet and small ensembles.
He was responsible for racial integration in America. Black and white jazz musicians could not play together in clubs or concerts in the1930s but Goodman hired Teddy Wilson to play and from then on he included black musicians in his bands.
Goodman was married to Alice Hammond Duckworth and they had two daughters. They married in 1942 and stayed married until her death in 1978. Goodman had honorary doctorates from University of Illinois, Bard College, Yale and Harvard and Columbia University.