John McDonough describes how Benny Goodman expanded the classical clarinet literature by commissioning new works by the likes of Bela Bartok and Aaron Copland, whose "Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra" is featured at the end of this story.
John McDonough is a Senior Editor for DownBeat magazine, a contributor to NPR and the Wall Street Journal and a lecturer in Jazz History at Northwestern University in Chicago.