TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I am Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
American clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman was known as the “King of Swing,” who brought jazz to mainstream audiences in the 1930s and 1940s. His iconic performances, such as “Sing, Sing, Sing,” displayed the infectious energy of swing music and introduced a new level of sophistication to big-band jazz.
Goodman led one of the first integrated jazz ensembles, breaking racial barriers and featuring trailblazing musicians like Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton.
His groundbreaking Carnegie Hall concert in 1938 further solidified jazz as a respected art form, making Goodman a pivotal figure in music history. Critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music."
He continued performing until the end of his life while pursuing an interest in classical music.
This has been Rapp On Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible in part by Layman Poupard Publishers, producers of the Literary Criticism Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.