Benny Goodm A Central Figure In American Swing Music

Benny Goodman was a central figure in American swing music as a clarinetist and bandleader. Swing music is a style of jazz music that was prevalent from the 1920s into the 1940s. This music was known for its vast popularity and danceable quality. Besides being a phenomenal bandleader, Goodman also promoted racial equality at a time where Black people were facing serious adversity.

Born into a poor Jewish immigrant background, Goodman used music to escape from the harshness of the world. His father introduced him to music through free concerts and eventually enrolled Goodman in music lessons. Benny Goodman continued having music lessons until he got into the Illinois Institute of Technology as a high schooler and played clarinet in their band.

He “maintained exacting standards for the band” as an “unyielding taskmaster” (Martin & Waters, 100). Goodman was rigorous as his band members has to endure “extensive rehearsals” to ensure their music was perfect (Martin & Waters, 100). As a whole, Goodman’s band displays an excellent “tightness and drive” (Martin & Waters, 102). The richness of Goodman and his band is not easily mistaken. Furthermore, their powerful sound is easily a standard for other big bands. With his clarinet, Benny Goodman produces a breathtaking sound that has “rhythmic emphasis, a raspy tone, and much bluesy bending of sustained notes” (Martin & Waters, 102). The feel of his band and clarinet solos are remarkable in any

This was not the first interracial band. But, Goodman and his small group were meaningful because of his popularity with the masses and the fact that they performed “live” (Martin & Waters, 99). Benny Goodman's initial trio consisted of him playing clarinet, Teddy Wilson on piano, and Lionel Hampton on the vibraphone. The group had “three highly individual musical personalities” as Wilson and Hampton were both talented Black musicians with the famous Benny Goodman leading them. The Goodman trio gained popularity in the 1930s. At this time, it was still culturally taboo for white and Black people to perform together, and southern Jim Crow laws “made it impossible” for them to play together (Zumwalt). So, Goodman is seen “as a pioneer in helping break down social barriers between blacks and whites” (Martin & Waters, 99). Although, Hampton and Wilson had to still endure racism from the audience. Neither of them could stick up for themselves in these situations, as they would “endanger[ed]” their lives (Martin & Waters, 100). To reduce this likelihood and as an act of protest, Goodman “refused to tour in the south” (Zumwalt). When Teddy Wilson was called a racial slur, Goodman said, “I’ll knock you out if you use that word around me again” (Zumwalt). Moreover, Benny Goodman empowered Black women, as he “established close relationships with female artists such as [Mary Lou] Williams” (Bonnell). Therefore, Goodman was