Benny Goodman (1909-1986) was an American clarinettist and bandleader, one of the central figures of swing. Known as the “King of Swing,” he also crossed repeatedly into classical repertory.

Goodman commissioned or performed works by composers including Bartók, Copland, Hindemith and Milhaud. In the Pristine catalogue he appears with Toscanini in American repertory.

His clarinet playing was clean, agile and rhythmically alive, with a bright centred tone and extraordinary ease. He brought jazz authority into classical contexts without shedding his own identity.

Goodman’s importance spans popular music, jazz history and twentieth-century classical crossover. He made the clarinet sound both streetwise and impeccably dressed.