“St. Louis Blues”

1. “St. Louis Blues” Benny Goodman and his orchestra

2. Introduction • Starts off with melody in trumpets • Response from saxophones • Clarinet solo after first few statements of the melody

3. Form • Two parts divided into an A section and B section • Each section contains several solos • Otherwise known as binary or two-part form

4. The Swing Band • Standard amount of members is 17 • His swing band consisted of: • 5 saxophones • 4 trumpets • 4 trombones • Rhythm section • 1 clarinet (Benny himself)

5. “The King of Swing” • Began music career at the age of 10 • Became a part of the Pollack band which gained him experience • Moved to New York with the band where he began a career on his own only when he was 20 • After creating his own band, they auditioned and gave debut performance on NBC’s “Let’s Dance” • Tour across the country was not a success • Later performed in Carnegie Hall which skyrocketed his band to fame

6. The Mixture • Combination of swing and blues • Benny put his own twist on it • Blues chord progressions with a swing rhythm • Original sung by Bessie Smith in the film titled St. Louis Blues

7. Resources • http://bigbandspotlight.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/benny-goodman-and-harry-james/ • http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/5/3/228 • http://www.thevernacular.org/benny-goodman/ • http://www.bennygoodman.com/about/biography.html • http://www.redhotjazz.com/stlouisblues.html • http://www.amazon.com/St-Louis-Blues/dp/B00482WYOG