By: Jaclyn Breeze
The clarinet is a woodwind instrument, played by blowing air through the instrument. The modern clarinet was invented around 1700 with the same base as a chalumeau, an earlier woodwind instrument, but with more keys and a larger range. The clarinet has the largest pitch range of the common woodwinds. Clarinets are often used in classical, military, klezmer, and jazz music, but can be found in many styles.
Benny Goodman was born in 1909 in Chicago. He started learning the clarinet when he was 10 years old from a member of the Chicago Symphony. He learned quickly and played in his first pit band (bands that accompany theater productions) at 11, then dropped out of school at 14 to pursue music full-time. He moved to Los Angeles at 16 to play with the Ben Pollack Band, whom he played with for four years and was a featured soloist. At the start of the Great Depression in 1929, he moved to New York City to work in recording sessions and radio shows. This was the start of Benny’s national popularity. He started his first band in 1934, playing music with southern jazz roots like ragtime and Dixieland, but with more improvisation. This variety made it accessible to a wide range of listeners. This style was called swing. Benny’s success prompted news sources to call him the “King of Swing” and he had the first jazz band to ever play at Carnegie Hall. Benny was also famous for working with African American musicians at a time when racial segregation was normal. Later in his life, he was honored by the Kennedy Center for his lifetime achievements in swing music and won a GRAMMY Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Listen to some of his work here:
Benny and His Daughter Together
99 out of a Hundred Wanna Be Loved
