Benjamin David Goodman By: Adam Vuong 7-3 Benny The Professor Goodman, the veteran clarinet player,

was born May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the ninth of twelve children of poor immigrants from the Russian Empire. He also had a dad, David Goodman, and a mother, Dora (Grisinsky) Goodman. In March of 1942, Benjamin married Alice Hammond Duckworth. After, they had two very successful daughters: Rachel Goodman Edleson, an English instructor. Also, Benjie Goodman Lasseau, a performing artist. When Ben was just 10 years old, he picked up his first clarinet when his dad enrolled him in a class with his two older siblings in music class. His early influences were New Orleans jazz clarinettists working in Chicago, notably Johnny Dodds, Lean Roppolo, and Jimmy Noone. At the age 14, Ben did similar imitations of Ted Lewis (another famous New Orleans Jazz musician) for pocket money. At the age of 16, he left for New York City and became a very successful musician in the late 1920s and early 1930s. This was also when he joined one of Chicagos top bands, Ben Pollacks band and made his first ever recordings in 1926. In 1929, when he was just 20, Benny struck out on his own to become a typical New York freelance musician, playing studio dates, leading a pit orchestra, and making himself a seasoned professional. Later on, Benny heard that NBC was looking for bands to rotate on a new Saturday night broadcast, called Lets Dance. The band rehearsed endlessly to achieve the precise tempos, section playing, and phrasing. There was only one word that could describe this bands style properly: Swing. By the age of 28, Benny Goodman had reached what seemed to be very successful. The new radio program, The Camel Caravan, was scheduled in prime time, and the whole nation listened to Benny and his band! With nothing else to do, the band set out on a tour of America. However, at a number of engagements the band received a horrible return, as many in the audiences expected smoother, sweeter jazz as opposed to the "hot" style that Goodman's band was accustomed to playing. By August 1935, Goodman found himself with a band that was nearly broke, disillusioned and ready to quit. It was at this moment that everything for the band and jazz changed. Benny Goodman had many memorable achievements. Some were that he won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1986, he was elected to All-Time Jazz hall of Fame by Down Beat Magazine in 1957, and he got a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1986. He also had a few quotes that were very meaningful and interesting.

For example, I feel that after youve done all the work and prepared as much as you can, what the heck, you might as well go out and have a good time, and Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments. The first quote means that after youve done lots of hard and tiring work, you deserve a nice break. This last quote means that many young children, who havent even picked up their instrument, assume that it will be easy, when it can actually be very challenging. Several days after performing his last performance, he died in his Manhattan apartment on June 13th, 1986. He had a wonderful and successful life, and will rest in peace.