Bass clarinet and a bass clarinet solo by Omer Simeon can be heard in the 1926 recording "Someday Sweetheart" by Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers. Additionally, Benny Goodman recorded with the instrument a few times early in his career. Harry Carney, Duke Ellington's baritone saxophonist for 47 years, played bass clarinet in some of Ellington's arrangements, first recording with it on "Saddest Tale" in 1934. He was featured soloist on many Ellington recordings, including 27 titles on bass clarinet. The first jazz album on which the leader solely played bass clarinet was "Great Ideas of Western Mann" (1957) by
Benny Goodman sometimes performed in concert with him, beginning when she was sixteen. Hammond encouraged Goodman to integrate his band and persuaded him to employ pianist Teddy Wilson. But Hammond's tendency to interfere in the musical affairs of Goodman's bands led to conflict. In 1953 they had a falling-out during the tour with Louis Armstrong, which Hammond produced. Goodman appeared on a 1975 PBS tribute to Hammond but remained at a distance. In the 1980s, after the death of Alice Goodman, Hammond and Goodman reconciled. On June 25, 1985, Goodman appeared at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City for "A Tribute