Benny Goodman was named the King of Swing because he among many “ground breaking figures as Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker” was the only one that had “explored the expressive potential of his instrument more influential” (Teachout 66). He also had a “bright tone and violent get controlled style the united with a performance unbeatable by any existing need player, which made him imitative clarinet jazz” (Teachout 64) player and the “greatest clarinetist in the history of Jazz” (Teachout 64). Goodman’s success inspired many “other musicians to start similar groups of their own and to create the nationwide craze for what came to be called Swing” (Teachout 64). But his achievement weren’t made possible by simply by his techniques and imitable tone but “also by his youth in Chicago.” When he enter adulthood in the “shadow of black and Creole New Orleans Jazzmen” that had migrated there, and that was were “Goodman embraced his innovations” (Reich). Without Goodman and his explosive early bands, musicians would have never be “savoring such masterwork as ‘sing, sing, sing,’ which Goodman and his and played in Carnegie Hall” (Reich). Goodman was viewed as “someone who could use black music in such way, that whites could dance to its liberating and exciting sound” (Giddins Ch. …show more content…
Since Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton were the “first black musicians to perform regularly in public with a white band” (Palmer). Goodman only wanted the best in his band, he “constantly hired and fired musicians” (Teachout 64). But Goodman was impressed by Teddy Willison “polished, invention improvisations” that decided to make him part of his band as a “special guest” (Giddins Ch. 7). From then on Goodman “saw no reason why mere custom and prejudice should keep him from improving his band by enlisting more great musicians just because they were black” (Burns). A year later Goodman went to Los Angles and there he encountered a musician who was black named Lionel Hampton who played the vibraphonist, Goodman thought he was great and hired him on the spot. With him hiring Lionel he form his quartet alongside Teddy Wilson, Himself and Gene Krupa. But with Goodman decision in hiring two black musicians cause some “other white band leaders to follow Goodman lead”, but some thought that “music may be colorblind but the country wasn’t” (Burns). Benny Goodman stood up for people that were discriminating his band mates. For example, when Goodman and his bandmates would stop to get some drinks while on the road “a guy came up to Benny and said Benny, what are you doing with those niggers in the band?