ie and Bennie Moten that emphasized a blues vocabulary and form as well as tempos of breakneckspeed and an overwhelming use of riffs. Among the outstanding soloists associated with Kansas City was Lester Young of the Basie band. In 1933 Goodman accepted an offer by the legendary producer John Hammond to record for Columbia's English market, which was more receptive to jazz than were Americans. In that year also, Benny appeared at BessieSmith's last and Billie Holiday's first recording sessions. Hammond urged Goodman to hire Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton for his small combo, which included drummer Gene Krupa; the group became the first interracial jazzensemble to perform in public. On Hammond's advice in 1934, Goodman purchased from the struggling bandleader Fletcher Henderson several of the hot big-band arrangements that helped to make his band's reputation. Henderson's material was tepidly received at first, because fans were accustomed to hearing a white bandplay "sweet" music. At a dance in Los Angeles's Palomar Ballroom on August 21, 1935, Goodman, fed up with the sweet charts, boldly called for Henderson's flag-wavers. The crowd was wildly enthusiastic. As much as any single eventcould have, this performance marked the advent of the Swing Era. Goodman's band, using Henderson's arrangements, thus became the first to achieve mass popularity. Goodman was also the first to integrate his band racially. Whereas the most popular swing bands (those of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Charlie Barnet) were white,some black swing bands also came into prominence, especially Ellington's, Basie's, and those of Earl Hines and Jimmie Lunceford (Connor and Hicks,1969). Swing's popularity had faded by 1945, brought down in part by a financial conflict between ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and the radio networks, and in part by a decline in the popularity of ballroom da...
