Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats - Benny Goodman

Ken Clarke MP profiles great jazz musicians of the 20th century.

Clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman became known as the King of Swing. Brought up in extreme poverty in the Jewish ghetto of Chicago's South Side, by the end of the 1930s he had achieved the adulation of a modern-day pop star

There were reports of ballroom riots, jitterbuggers dancing in the aisles at his concerts and solemn words being written about how the nation's youth was being corrupted by his music.

Producer: Paul Evans

First broadcast in March 2009.