The following sequences are from the movie Hollywood Hotel (1937), featuring the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Benny Goodman was hailed as the King of Swing, and was largely responsible for spreading the music and culture to the whole country, especially to the West Coast, because his 1934 engagement with the radio program “Let’s Dance”. And many would pin the official start of the Swing Era on Goodman’s gig at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on 21 August 1935 (although in effect, it has been going on for a while now, with all the hot bands playing up in Harlem and the Lindy Hoppers dancing where they had a chance).
This clip shows the Swing anthem “Sing Sing Sing” (which to me has too much and too long drum solos, especially in the album versions), with Gene Krupa on drums, and Harry James on trumpet
The following unusual medley combines “I’ve Got a Heartful of Music” and “House Hop” with the Benny Goodman Quartet, with Teddy Wilson on piano and Lionel Hampton on vibes, playing “Avalon”. The young Harry James, who would come to lead one of the more successful big bands later, takes the solos on trumpet again.
Goodman made history by integrating his band by having Hampton and Wilson, not just on recordings but also in life performances – a daring move in a time of seggregration. But Goodman was not interested in racial lines, he was interested in having great musicians. Thus Goodman made a good Swing icon for he had a rags to riches story, and he bridged the entertainment divide not only with an integrated band, but also for being a white band that played hot jazz normally associated with black bands (no doubt because of Fletcher Henderson’s arrangements, and Goodman’s own disciplinarian approach to leading the band).
