Benny Goodman: King Porter Stomp

Five years after Jelly Roll Morton recorded his tribute to pianist Porter King, bandleader Fletcher Henderson adopted it, first as arranged by Bill Challis (1928), then by Fletcher's brother Horace (1933). By 1935, as re-scored for Benny Goodman by Fletcher himself, the chart was more Henderson than Morton. In particular, it better focused the catchy hook that Jelly Roll had needlessly buried in mid-piece. With Bunny Berigan's superb trumpeting, B.G.'s saucy clarinet, Red Ballard's mellifluous trombone and an unforgettable call-&-response finale, this is one of the Swing Era's signature records, and a landmark in American pop culture. Not to be missed.