Benny Goodman Quartet: Avalon

Not blues, but it features Lionel Hampton on the Vibes, and of course Benny Goodman on Clarinet. What makes Benny Goodman special is that he was the first white band leader to have an integrated band. Goodman grew up in Chicago and was greatly influenced by the African American musicians who played a new kind of music called Jazz. When he was able to put together his own band he added the best players around regardless of race. He also hired the great Fletcher Henderson to write his arraignments.

Artist Of The Week: Count Basie

Artist of the week is Count Basie. I thought I would go old school, and bring on some swing! Legend has it that Benny Goodman was traveling through the Midwest when he heard Count Basie on the radio. He told John Hammond who contacted Basie, and arranged for him to play in Chicago. When Basie and the band arrived the producer of the show wanted to know where his music and arrangements were, when Basie informed the producer that they didn't have any, and that the arrangements were in their head! I am sure the producer was a bit shocked when he heard how good these guys were without music!:-) As always the videos are located on the left side of the blog. Also notice that I have another box of videos below that. You can watch those blues videos without leaving the site. It is pretty cool, and has some different videos. I have noticed that it slowly changes videos perhaps a couple a week.

Benny Goodman: Sing Sing Sing

Technically not blues, but a great song from the Swing era. What I like about it is it features some great performances by Benny Goodman (Clarinet) Harry James (Trumpet) and Gene Krupa (Drums) This is a short version, the live version from Carnegie Hall is well over 7 mins, and worth seeing or listening to if you can find it.