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Benny Goodman

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Composer (Music Score), Actor, Featured Music, Musical Direction/Supervision, Songwriter
Born:
May 30, 1909 in Chicago, IL
Death:
June 13, 1986 in New York, NY
Biography:In his heyday, jazz clarinet player and bandleader Benny Goodman was the undisputed "King of Swing." He was born the eighth son to an immigrant family of 12 on the west side of Chicago. Learning to play clarinet with an instrument loaned to him from a local synagogue, he started out playing in neighborhood bands. A year after his high school graduation, Goodman moved to California to work in Ben Pollack's band and from there went on to radio work and free-lance recording. In the early 1930s, Goodman founded his own band and began working for Billy Rose and eventually, after replacing Guy Lombardo at the Roosevelt Grill, moved to Hollywood to play his new "swing" music at the Palomar Ballroom. Later, he made major inroads against the racism of the music industry by hiring African American pianist Teddy Wilson, and vibraphone player Lionel Hampton. Others followed. In 1936, Goodman and his band made... Full Biography
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