Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman is dead. And with him has gone the kind of music that was clean, precise and wondrous--a music played with love, not in anger. EDNA McHUGH Malibu

Talk to Woody Allen and he'll go out of his way to tell you what a crummy musician he is, and yet, for the past half-century or so, his innumerable live performances likely have introduced New Orleans-style jazz to more audiences in America and Europe than anyone outside of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The renowned filmmaker's enthusiasm for his hobby animated a recent phone chat that found the 76-year-old passionate in discussing topics as varied as the artist he'd most like to have played with and his dogged determination to practice at all hours.

Helen Ward, 82, whose supple voice and sense of swing contributed to the early success of the Benny Goodman band. Ward toured and recorded with Goodman's band from 1934 to 1936 and rejoined Goodman for performances and recordings after World War II. Born in New York, she performed in several bands and on radio programs in the city before Goodman heard her at an audition.

Beryl Davis, a British-born singer who became a star in America performing with Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman during the big-band era, died Friday in Los Angeles. She was 87. The cause of death was complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to family spokesman Greg Purdy. The daughter of English band leader Harry Davis, she was born in Plymouth, England, on March 16, 1924, and began performing with her father at the age of 3. At 12 she was appearing with Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt in their all-string jazz band, Quintette du Hot Club de France.

How important was Benny Goodman? What were his contributions as a clarinetist, orchestra leader, pioneer in racial desegregation? These and other questions are dealt with in detail in "Benny Goodman: Adventures in the Kingdom of Swing," airing this evening at 7:35 on KCET-TV Channel 28. Produced and directed by Oren Jacoby, this is a definitive documentary that enlisted the help of countless friends, relatives and sidemen who observed the Goodman saga.

For decades, Benny Goodman and his clarinet popped up just about everywhere, and when they did, just about everyone knew it. Goodman, who would have turned 100 on May 30, defined for most people the swing era that dominated popular American music for much of the 1930s and 1940s. From Carnegie Hall and New York's exclusive clubs to his backing up Jack Teagarden in 1933 on "Texas Tea Party," he was as versatile and prolific as he was famous.

Nuncio F. (Toots) Mondello, 81, a saxophonist with many of the Big Bands during their glory years. Mondello was the principal alto sax soloist for Benny Goodman when Goodman's "Let's Dance" series was broadcast on national radio in the 1930s. His other band affiliations were with Buddy Rogers and Joy Haymes, among others. He also played in the house bands for the Ed Sullivan, Kate Smith and Milton Berle TV shows of the 1950s and 1960s.

During her heyday in the 1940s and '50s, dimple-cheeked Monica Lewis was known as "America's Singing Sweetheart": She warbled such chart-topping hits as "Autumn Leaves, "I Wish You Love" and "Put the Blame on Mame" and starred on the radio on such programs as "Beat the Band" and "The Chesterfield Hour: Music That Satisfies. " She was the singing voice for the animated Chiquita Banana commercials and did other ads for Piels Light Beer, Camel cigarettes and General Electric. Lewis was also "Miss Leg-O-Genic" for Burlington Mills hosiery.

For decades, Benny Goodman and his clarinet popped up just about everywhere, and when they did, just about everyone knew it. Goodman, who would have turned 100 on May 30, defined for most people the swing era that dominated popular American music for much of the 1930s and 1940s. From Carnegie Hall and New York's exclusive clubs to his backing up Jack Teagarden in 1933 on "Texas Tea Party," he was as versatile and prolific as he was famous.

Earle H. Hagen, the Emmy Award-winning television composer who wrote the memorable theme music for "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "I Spy" and other classic TV programs, has died. He was 88. Hagen, who composed the jazz standard "Harlem Nocturne" and was a former big-band trombonist for Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ray Noble, died Monday night at his home in Rancho Mirage, said his wife, Laura. He had been ill for several months. After spending seven years at 20th Century Fox as an arranger and orchestrator, Hagen moved into television in 1953 after the studio cut back on its music department.

There aren't a lot of opportunities to both see and hear the music of jazz artists from Stan Kenton and Nat King Cole to Thelonious Monk and Louis Armstrong. But the Playboy Jazz Festival provides at least one such experience every year via the "Jazz on Film" programs of jazz collector Mark Cantor. His film clips presentation Thursday night in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Leo S. Bing Theater was a fascinating, three-part excursion reaching across virtually the entire history of jazz.

The music of Benny Goodman was in the air Saturday at Cal State Northridge's Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Not from the King of Swing himself, of course -- he died in 1986 -- but in the playing of a musician who Goodman mentioned as a prime candidate for carrying the torch of the jazz clarinet: Eddie Daniels. In a program overflowing with Goodman-associated tunes, Daniels made a convincing case for the recommendation.

By dissing Duke Ellington, film music composer Michael Nyman revealed that he is profoundly ignorant of popular music history ("Composer of Contradictions," by Josef Woodard, Dec. 9). Nyman was quoted as saying he still likes the term "band," adding that "Duke Ellington called his band an orchestra. My title is sort of dumbing down a bit and his description was dumbing up, so to speak. He was trying to get a little more status, I'm going the other way." For Nyman's information, instrumental music organizations before, during and after the swing era, led by such names as Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Paul Whiteman and Woody Herman, were routinely listed on record labels and at venues as orchestras.

Closet clarinetists, it seems, are everywhere. With high-school bands requiring phalanxes of licorice-stick tooters, it is not surprising so many folks have a passing familiarity with the instrument. It is, however, a bit surprising that Richard Stoltzman, one of the world's preeminent clarinetists, started in similar fashion. But he did, then went on to a degree of success that should offer hope to every young aspirant struggling to deal with a squeaky reed.

Cal Collins, 68, a jazz guitar virtuoso and featured member of Benny Goodman's band in the late 1970s, died Sunday of liver failure at his home in Dillsboro, Ind. Born in Medora, Ind., Collins was raised in an atmosphere of bluegrass and country music but grew interested in jazz, particularly the music of guitarist Django Reinhardt. Collins also became interested in the Nat Cole Trio, which featured guitarist Oscar Moore.