My years with The King - the Benny Goodman mystery - Part 1

Reflections on my 5 years with Benny Goodman

A few basic facts about Benjamin David Goodman*:

Born poor in Chicago on May 30, 1909*, and died rich, 77 years later on Friday, June 13th, 1986.

Did more than any other major pop figure of his era to champion and insist on racial integration by bringing Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian, Cootie Williams, and Big Sid Catlett into his 1936-41 bands.

Made music (and it’s on record) with Bessie Smith, Bela Bartok, Bix Beiderbecke, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Igor Stravinsky, Billie Holiday, and Herbie Hancock.

Insisted on giving label credit to black arranger/composers - Fletcher Henderson and Jimmy Mundy - at a time when no other band (of any kind) did the same with any regularity.

By 1930, was one of the most original and technically gifted jazz improvisers on the planet. He owed virtually nothing to his clarinet predecessors or any other jazz instrumentalist in terms of the language he created. Yes, from Jimmie Noone a certain fluidity, but that’s about it, except for infrequent dips into Pee Wee Russell territory. Much more about this anon. All the talk about Volley DeFaut, Frank Teschemacher, and other Chicago clarinetists is to my mind misplaced and not to be heard in any of the recordings: inspirations, surely; influences, no. No wonder Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson, and so many others regarded him with awe.

And finally, since it’s my story I’m ultimately telling, hired the 21 year-old me to help put his music collection in order, leading to my becoming his personal manager, and lastly, hiring my big band in 1985 to become the last Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Here’s just a sample of the kind of things I’ll be delving into as this sub-series progresses. Hear Goodman turn my band into his during a 1985 rehearsal (it got MUCH better just weeks later):

The band in October 1985

* See the birth certificate courtesy of jazz scholar David Fletcher. We’ll leave the name and date as is common practice, although there are cases to be made for May 30th as well.