With clarinet in hand, Benny Goodman was transformed from a child in Chicago's impoverished Jewish ghetto into the king of swing, greeted with near pandemonium wherever his band played. read more
The only white musician to really make a significant contribution to the history of jazz was Bill Evans. Benny Goodman, Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey were white commercial rip offs of what the innovative black musicians were doing. read more
Benjamin David "Benny" Goodman was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". In the mid-1930s, Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in the United States. His concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 1938 is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." Goodman's bands launched the careers of many major jazz artists. read more