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| Benny Goodman |
 Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 - June 13, 1986) was a famous Jazz musician, known as "King of Swing," "Patriarch of the Clarinet," and "Swing''s Senior Statesman". Goodman was born in Chicago, the son of poor Jewish immigrants who lived on Chicago''s Maxwell Street neighborhood. He learned to play clarinet in a charity-run boy''s band. He became a strong player at an early age and began playing professionally in bands while still ''in short pants''. His early influences were New Orleans jazz clarinetists in Chicago, notably Johnny Dodds, Leon Roppolo, and Jimmy Noone. At the age of 16, Goodman joined one of Chicago''s top bands, the Ben Pollack Orchestra, with whom he made his first recordings in 1926. He started making records under his own name 2 years later. Goodman left for New York City and became a good session musician during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He made a reputation as a solid player who was prepared and reliable. He played with the nationally known bands of Red Nichols, Isham Jones, and Ted Lewis before forming his own band in 1932. In 1934 he auditioned for the "Let''s Dance" radio program. Since he needed new charts every week for the show, his friend John Hammond suggested that he purchase some Jazz charts from Fletcher Henderson, who had New York''s most popular African-American band in the 1920s and early 1930s. The combination of the Henderson charts, his solid clarinet playing, and his well rehearsed band made him a rising star in the mid-1930s. However, it was not until after his fabled appearance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on August 21, 1935 that Goodman became a nationally known star. His radio broadcasts from New York had been too late to attract a large audience on the East Coast, but had an avid following in California, and a wildly enthusiastic crowd for the first time greeted Goodman. This received national publicity and turned the Goodman Band into an overnight sensation. Some writers have declared this date to be the start of the Swing Era. Many suggest that Goodman achieved the same success with Jazz and Swing that Elvis Presley did for Rock and Roll. He continued to play the clarinet until his death in New York City at the age of 77. Benny Goodman is interred in the Long Ridge Cemetery, Stamford, Connecticut. |
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