GOODMAN, BENNY

GOODMAN, BENNY (Benjamin David; 1909–1986), U.S. clarinetist and band leader. He learned to play the clarinet as a child in Chicago in a music instruction program fostered by a local synagogue. When he turned professional, he played in various well-known bands until he organized his own orchestra in 1933. Goodman became one of the founders of the "swing" style prevalent in the 1930s, and was called the "King of Swing." His was the first jazz ensemble in which both white and black musicians played together. At the same time he developed a technical mastery that led to his appearances with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles. Bartok dedicated his clarinet trio "Contrasts" to him in 1938, and Hindemith (1947) and copland (1948) each wrote a clarinet concerto for him. He wrote an autobiography, The Kingdom of Swing (1961), and authorized Benny Goodman's Own Clarinet Method (1941), edited by Charles Hathaway. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: D.R. Connor, BG – Off the Record (1958); P. Maffei, Benny Goodman (1961); E. Condon and R. Gehman (eds.), Eddie Condon's Treasury of Jazz (1956), 258–74; N. Shapiro and N. Hentoff (eds.), Jazz Makers (1957), 175–86. (Claude Abravanel)