Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing” was born Benjamin David Goodman on May 30, 1909 and died on June 13, 1986. His band brought Jazz into the mainstream of music, and he introduced many great jazz personalities to the world including Jack Teagarden, Gene Krupa and Billie Holiday. His band was also the first to include African-Americans among his musicians. The catalyst for his revolutionary change in the way music was played came out of the ashes of the Great Depression. In 1929 after the great stock market crash Benny helped a young African-American musician from Atlanta named Fletcher Henderson by purchasing all of his fast 'swing' music arrangements and hiring him to coach his bandmembers. As he recorded and played more and more of these new faster arrangements his popularity grew rapidly. In 1935 at a concert in the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania teenagers started spontaneously dancing and swinging to the beat of the music in the aisles while his band played. Later that summer at McFadden's Ballroom in Oakland they were met by large crowds of young people eager to see them play and dance to their music. From the first song the hall was an excited pandemonium of young kids dancing to and cheering this new faster music that inspired them to dance and 'swing' to the beat of the music. Music and dance changed forever because of the 'King of Swing.'