Benny Goodman even to use new fingering techniques. He had his old finger calluses removed and started to learn how to play his clarinet again—almost from scratch." Goodman commissioned compositions for clarinet and chamber ensembles or orchestra that have become standard pieces of classical repertoire. He premiered works by composers, such as "Contrasts" by Béla Bartók; "Clarinet Concerto No. 2, Op. 115" by Malcolm Arnold; "Derivations for Clarinet and Band" by Morton Gould; "Sonata for Clarinet and Piano" by Francis Poulenc, and "Clarinet Concerto" by Aaron Copland. "Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs" by Leonard Bernstein was commissioned for Woody Herman's big band, but
Benny Williams saw him was in the late 60s just before Kenny Baker returned to the band, Benny was playing fiddle with his right hand bandaged where he had got it caught in the fan on the bus the day before. His main instrument was fiddle but could play banjo, bass and guitar as well... Benny was a quiet and unassuming man and preferred to be the sideman and made many a country entertainer's song sound right." An album titled "Legend of Bill Monroe and More Bluegrass" was engineered By Bernard Rousseau of the Harriman Sound Lab and made available through Scott