Goodman's big break came when he won a contract to appear as one of three regular bands on a coast to coast program sponsored by the National Biscuit Co., titled "Let's Dance".

In his autobiography "The Kingdom of Swing", Goodman unhesitatingly gives credit for his success to the arranging ability of Fletcher Henderson. In his early band leading years, Goodman did little arranging himself, leaving this to the brilliant Don Redman.

What in fact distinguishes the swing bands from the straight dance units of the immediately preceding era is the emergence of jazz as a major rather than a secondary element of their music.

Benny Goodman's earliest band might be considered the archetypical swing outfit, but in fact he was to undertake a personal stylistic evolution that resulted in a very different band in the early 40's, when his chief arranger was Eddie Sauter, and to a considerable extent set the pattern for such bands as those led by Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw.

When the public went to hear the Goodman band it expected soloists such as Harry James, Ziggy Elman and Jess Stacy to be well featured, and in due course many of these musicians formed their own bands.

Generally, the bands led by ex-sidemen of Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and so forth, leaned heavily on their leaders' popularity and consequently the cult of the personality was further extended.

During 1947 to 1949, Benny Goodman led what was to be his last regular band - after this, he formed bands for specific engagements or tours, and called on the services of bop-influenced arrangers like Chico O'Farril and Tommy Todd to provide fresh material.

When his Victor contract ended in 1939 and numerous stars departed from his ranks, he refurbished his personnel and, while retaining Fletcher Henderson as one of his arrangers, introduced others of a more modern bent. One of these newcomers was Mel Powell, also the band pianist, and another, Eddie Sauter and between these two, molded the early 40's Goodman band, probably the finest he ever led.

The band's popularity was great among musicians who voted in 1940 to give it a 2 to 1 majority over the Glenn Miller band in the swing division, and a 3 to 2 edge over Miller in the "Favorite Band Of All" category.

Stamp image courtesy of the United States Postal Service.