News & Updates — Benny Goodman

July 29, 2016 would've been the 100th birthday of the innovative guitarist Charlie Christian. (A year ago...but I wrote this a year ago). He was one of the earliest guitar soloists in jazz (first in a long line of guitarists who wanted their instrument to sound like a sax) and an early pioneer of the electric guitar, a major contributor to the bebop revolution as well as a huge influence on Chuck Berry. He grew up in a musical family in Oklahoma City, and was a baseball star as a youth. He started out busking in the street before playing...