was born on this date in 1909. Goodman was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who thought that music might be a way out of poverty. His older brothers were given a tuba and a trombone but — just 10 — Benjamin was given a clarinet. He learned to play at a synagogue and then with a Jane Hull House band. By 16, he was in the Ben Pollack Orchestra; by 19, Goodman was making solo recordings.
In 1934, Goodman put together his own band and they played on a live NBC radio program “Let’s Dance” during the late hours in New York. It was not until the band played before a live audience at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles that it found its fans — because of the time difference, the Goodman band that was on so late in the east was heard during prime dancing time on the west coast. (It’s a good scene in the 1955 film The Benny Goodman Story.) Some date the beginning of the Swing Era to that August 21, 1935, appearance in Los Angeles.
On January 16, 1938, Goodman brought jazz to Carnegie Hall. This great concert was recorded (with one microphone), but the original disk was lost. In 1950, Goodman discovered a copy in a closet. It quickly became a best-selling record and the CD is an absolute essential.
But NewMexiKen’s favorite Benny Goodman appearance was on December 30, 1966, at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. That’s because I was there.
(Originally posted by NewMexiKen on May 30, 2004)
In Ken Burns’ documentary “Jazz” he tells the story of how Benny Goodman and his band toured their way across the country. All through the heartland their concerts suffered low attendence and quite often audience members in the small mid-western (Red) States even booed the band.
The band was pretty unhappy and getting more so daily. They very nearly blew off the rest of the tour and even considered breaking up the band.
When they got to L.A. they were approaching The Palomar Ballroom and they spotted people in line a few blocks away and wondered what was up that would get so many people out. As they got closer they realized that these people were lined up to get into The Palomar.
The band figured there must be some mistake and they must have their date wrong and that someone ‘big’ must be playing there that night.
Well, of course someone ‘big’ was playing there that night; The Benny Goodman Band. They played to a packed theater that rocked the Casbah!
The rest is history.