| Benny Goodman (born Benjamin
David in Chicago in 1909) first started playing clarinet at a local Chicago
synagogue when he was about ten. He learnt the clarinet with the help of
a former musician of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A year later he was
playing in the pit band of a local theatre. He also played in school dances
and other local events. In August 1925, at age 16, he joined Ben Pollack's
Orchestra. He made his first recordings in 1926, and made his first recordings
under his own name in 1928. Benny Goodman played in the bands of leaders
such as Red Nichols (from 1929 to 1931), Isham Jones, Ben Selvin, and Ted
Lewis. In these bands, the sidemen also included guys like Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller, Joe Venuti, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, and Fats Waller. He also worked in pit bands for Broadway musicals and did....
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