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Benny Goodman

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet.

When Benny was 10 years old, his father sent him to study music at Kehelah Jacob Synagogue in Chicago. There, Benny learned the clarinet under the tutelage of Chicago Symphony member Franz Schoepp, while two of his brothers learned tuba and trumpet. He also played in the band at Jane Addams' famous social settlement, Hull-House.

Benny's aptitude on the clarinet was immediately apparent. While he was still very young, he became a professional musician and played in several bands in Chicago. He played with his first pit band at the age of 11, and became a member of the American Federation of Musicians when he was 14, when he quit school to pursue his career in music. When his father died, 15-year-old Benny used the money he made to help support his family. During these early years in Chicago, he played with many musicians who would later become nationally renowned, such as Frank Teschemacher and Dave Tough.

When Benny was 16, he was hired by the Ben Pollack band and moved to Los Angeles. He remained with the band for four years, and became a featured soloist. In 1929, the year that marked the onset of the Great Depression and a time of distress for America, Benny left the Ben Pollack band to participate in recording sessions and radio shows in New York City.

Then, in 1933, Benny began to work with John Hammond, a jazz promoter who would later help to launch the recording careers of Billie Holiday and Count Basie, among many others. Hammond wanted Benny to record with drummer Gene Krupa and trombonist Jack Teagarden, and the result of this recording session was the onset of Benny's national popularity. Later, in 1942, Benny would marry Alice Hammond Duckworth, John Hammond's sister, and have two daughters: Rachel, who became a concert pianist, and Benji, who became a cellist.

Benny led his first band in 1934 and began a few-month stint at Billy Rose's Music Hall, playing Fletcher Henderson's arrangements along with band members Bunny Berigan, Gene Krupa and Jess Stacy. The music they played had its roots in the Southern jazz forms of ragtime and Dixieland, while its structure adhered more to arranged music than its more improvisational jazz counterparts. This gave it an accessibility that appealed to American audiences on a wide scale. America began to hear Benny 's band when he secured a weekly engagement for his band on NBC's radio show "Let's Dance," which was taped with a live studio audience.

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Radio & Podcasts

A Winter's Jazz Tale

Read "A Winter's Jazz Tale" reviewed by Nick Davies


With this episode we have decided to start picking a theme to focus on. Here we picked “Winter" as the theme for the show and we start with the Emmi U Quintet and finish with Eddy Duchin. Diverse styles but great music showcasing Winter. Playlist Emmi U Quintet “Winter Solstice" from My Bird(Intakt Records) 01:19 Kaidi Tatham “Cold" from It's A World Before You(First World Records) 6:26 Lucinda Slim “Two Winters Long" from Lucinda Slim (Self-Produced) 11:49 ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Chick Webb & Benny Goodman (1933 - 1938)

Read "Chick Webb & Benny Goodman (1933 - 1938)" reviewed by Russell Perry


In the mid-1930s, jazz orchestras led by drummer Chick Webb and clarinetist Benny Goodman rose to prominence with the arrangements of Edgar Sampson and Fletcher Henderson. After launching the careers of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, Webb succumbed to spinal tuberculosis in 1939, at age 34. Goodman launched the careers of Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Harry James and Charlie Christian over a storied run that earned him the controversial sobriquet “King of Swing." Playlist Host Intro ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Clarinet

Read "Clarinet" reviewed by Bob Bernotas


When you hear the phrase, “New Orleans jazz," what three instruments immediately come to mid? That's right: cornet, trombone, and clarinet. In those early jazz combos, the clarinet provided a soaring, high register obbligato that enhanced, and, in the hands of the amazing Sidney Bechet, challenged, the cornet's lead line. A decade or so later, the clarinet occupied a rightful place as one of the signature instruments of the big band era, serving as a distinctive tone color in the ...

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Film Review

Jazz on Film: Caveat Emptor

Read "Jazz on Film: Caveat Emptor" reviewed by S.G Provizer


There are good documentaries about jazz. A person can see the films listed on this site and walk away without reaching for the gas pipe. But, as the furor around the film Whiplash (well, to jazz people it was furor) reminds us, it's wise to keep the bar low. When Hollywood does jazz, it should stick to hagiography and cheesy romance: The Benny Goodman Story, The Fabulous Dorseys, The Glenn Miller Story; these are really just the Lindbergh, Curie and Young ...

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Album Review

Benny Goodman: Benny Goodman Yale University Archives Volume 1

Read "Benny Goodman Yale University Archives Volume 1" reviewed by Andrew Velez


The sound of the opener is unmistakable; it's the familiar, driving urgency of Benny Goodman's clarinet, which made him the undisputed “King of Swing," heard again in all its electrifying glory on “Sweet Georgia Brown," the 1967 take which opens this collection. Recorded live in New York's old Rainbow Grill, Goodman is in solid company with pianist Bernie Leighton, bassist George Duvivier and especially saxophonist Zoot Sims. With a simpatico honed by playing together over the decades, Sims' sleek, rhythmic ...

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Multiple Reviews

Benny Goodman: Yale University Archives, Vol. 2 (Big Band 1957-1964) & Celebrates 100 Years of Benny

Read "Benny Goodman: Yale University Archives, Vol. 2 (Big Band 1957-1964) & Celebrates 100 Years of Benny" reviewed by Graham L. Flanagan


Benny GoodmanYale University Archives, Vol. 2 (Big Band 1957-1964)Nimbus2009 Dave BennettCelebrates 100 Years of BennyRecord Label #2Year On May 30th, the great Benny Goodman would have turned 100. The celebration of this milestone continues with the release of some excellent archival material, as well as a wonderful tribute album from one of the clarinet ...

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Album Review

Benny Goodman: 40th Anniversary Concert (Live at Carnegie Hall)

Read "40th Anniversary Concert (Live at Carnegie Hall)" reviewed by Graham L. Flanagan


One autumn day in 1978, a sprightly 69-year-old Benny Goodman decided on a whim that he wanted to 'book' Carnegie Hall for a gig commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the landmark performance held and so famously-recorded there for the Columbia label in 1938. That show registered as the first official full-length jazz program ever held at the hallowed venue. Tickets for the anniversary gig sold out in a matter of hours, with no advertising or even a formal announcement. Goodman's ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny\'s mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old... ...

Video / DVD

Rare Docs: Goodman and Byas

Rare Docs: Goodman and Byas

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Two rare videos surfaced this week. The first is The Art of Performing, taped for television in 1967. It features Benny Goodman (cl), Clark Terry (tp,flglh), Zoot Sims (ts), Hank Jones (p), Gene Bertoncini (g), Milt Hinton (b) and Ed Shaughnessy (d). Earlier versions of this taping were bottle green and largely unwatchable. The second is a Dutch documentary called Homecoming, focusing on tenor saxophonist Don Byas and his one-time return to New York in 1970. The artist who Byas ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny\'s mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old... ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny\'s mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old... ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Jazz Musician of the Day: Benny Goodman

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Benny Goodman's birthday today!

Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny\'s mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet. When Benny was 10 years old... ...

2

Recording

Benny Goodman: 1958-59

Benny Goodman: 1958-59

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Benny Goodman was remarkable in more ways than we often realize. Obviously, his clarinet playing was extraordinary in tone, technique and soulful expression. But his musical judgment, assembly of musicians and taste were impeccable as well. His bands were nearly always exceptional, and he had a golden ear that ensured that his vision and expectations would be met. What's more, he was rarely cliche and nearly always looked for ways to expand into new territory. Two little-known albums that illustrate ...

Harry Skoler
clarinet
Seth Kibel
clarinet
Paul Cosentino
clarinet
Gary Porter
vocals
Oguz Buyukberber
clarinet, bass
Depot Town Big Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
Eric Seddon
clarinet
Stardust Big Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
Flatirons Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Benoit Viellefon & His Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

B.G. In Hi Fi / The...

Sonar Kollektiv
2013

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Anthology

Sonar Kollektiv
2011

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Benny Goodman Feat....

Sonar Kollektiv
2010

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Ultimate Big Band...

Sonar Kollektiv
2010

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Benny Goodman Story

Sonar Kollektiv
2010

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Videos

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