Benny Goodman returned to his swing band because he concluded that was what he knew best. In 1953, he said, "Maybe bop has done more to set music back for years than anything...Basically it's all wrong. It's not even knowing the scales...Bop was mostly publicity and people figuring angles." In 1949 he studied with clarinetist Reginald Kell, requiring a change in technique: "instead of holding the mouthpiece between his front teeth and lower lip, as he had done since he first took a clarinet in hand 30 years earlier, Goodman learned to adjust his embouchure to the use of both lips and
Black Benny Black Benny Black Benny Williams (c. 1890 – 1924) was a New Orleans-based bass drummer of legendary status who played in brass bands in the early decades of the 20th century. He was mentioned by many New Orleans musicians of the era but he left no recordings. Black Benny was born and died in New Orleans. He grew up in a rough poor African-American neighborhood in the Third Ward of New Orleans known as "The Battleground". He played with such notable brass bands as the Onward, Camelia, and the Tuxedo Brass Band as well as with such leaders as Kid