Tasty Scoop
- Sweet tone and swirling melodic surprises are key ingredients that connect
Ben(ny) and Jerry's two seemingly unrelated musical flavors

Got turned on to Benny Goodman back in college. True, I heard about the world's greatest clarinet player while still in high school, but didn't actually hear his music until a few years later. And when I finally did, it was a revelation.

Like many of my early musical explorations, I first stumbled across Goodman's music while working at Tower Records many, many moons ago. One of that gig's big perks was free run of the store to pick out music for your shift at the cash register. Not only that, you could record whatever you played! Back in the day of building a music collection, recording tapes while working the 'drawer' was HUGE!

Right now, I'm actually looking at the tape I made during my very first shift at the register. The date was March 20th, 1980. It's a TDK D-C90, and although an old, and well worn normal bias cassette, the darn thing still sounds great! The tape opens with Bob Marley. Had the good fortune of experiencing the reggae prophet maybe a year earlier at some Ivy League college back east... on a Halloween night no less! Can you say 'colorful?' Anyway, I digress...

After Marley, the tape goes into David Bromberg. Another performer who had rocked my world within recent memory of that fateful night on the job, no one in the history of music has ever had a better vocabulary than Bromberg. Can you say 'polysyllabic?' Songs on that tape from his album, 'You Should See the Rest of the Band,' still remain among my all time faves.

And then we entered the Benny zone. Just sort of randomly came across his slot in the record bins while picking out music for that momentous 5:00 to 7:00 pm cash register shift. For whatever reason, I grabbed one of his live albums. During my eight or nine month roller coaster ride as a Tower employee, I 'discovered' Merl Saunders, Professor Longhair, Return To Forever, Weather Report, and many others in the same way.

Anyway, once the music started, I was hooked. I mean, the first time I heard Benny jammin' like crazy with Lionel Hampton on vibes and a hard swingin' rhythm section featuring Gene Krupa on drums, it was like bedtime for bonzo. Lights out baby - sparkle city here I come! Not only do I recall the specific moment, I'll never forget what crossed my mind: this guy plays clarinet the way Garcia plays guitar!

Sound crazy? Let me explain. First off, I understand that Goodman and Garcia played very different -styles- of music. Best known as the 'King of Swing,' Goodman didn't play no stinking rock and roll. Or cowboy music. Or deep space, barefoot boogie, or even R&B. Sure, Benny swung his way into the blues every now and then, but more often than not, if he was going to immerse himself in another genre, Goodman went for classical music. Garcia on the other hand, played everything -but- classical music.

So where's the connection? Glad you asked. Let me put it this way: although Goodman's band was playing songs I'd never heard before, the -way- they were tearing through the tunes captured my imagination. Struck a harmonious chord, if you will. Goodman's playing was so loose and fluid, that I had no choice but to loosen up myself. Couldn't help but get into it even though I was working.

Forget the selective memory stuff, I'm gonna tell you the whole truth: I was reprimanded by the store manager for dancing with too much animation behind the register. It was the first of many 'lines in the sand' drawn by the corporate stick in the mud who managed the store during my brief, yet action packed, tour of duty with the music biz monster. But once again, I digress...

Aside from the fact that Garcia's dad was a clarinet player, the first common ground between the two seemingly bipolar musical opposites of Goodman and Garcia, for me anyway, was obviously the anytime/anywhere dance floor. That was clear from the getgo. Fact: Goodman's music makes me wanna dance. Plain and simple. Just like when the Dead would click into that very special gear, with the entire band swinging as one, propelling Garcia's melodic solos to build, swirl, and ultimately explode in a musical orgasm. Figuratively speaking, of course...

Make no mistake - Goodman was a big time jammer. An improvisational fireball with mad skills capable of igniting spontaneous combustion at any time. Nobody heated up a dance floor quicker than Benny Goodman in his prime.

After listening to the tape a few times, something about Goodman's playing continued to remind me of Garcia. Not every single song, but a few. And soon enough, listening to Jerry, I would at times hear a hint of swing in his phrasing and delivery. And then there's the song, -Russian Lullaby-, from one of Garcia's solo albums, which is clearly a Goodman-esque, 'old country' swing number from the east European motherland that even features a clarinet.

But the real connection between Goodman and Garcia goes much deeper than a specific song. That's too easy a mark. Too superficial. Here's the deal: At times, Goodman bent and twisted notes like peppermint striped crazy straws - powerfully playful and sometimes frenetic. Other times the tone was romantic and smooth. Regardless of what he was playing, the voice of Goodman's clarinet conveyed more emotion in one note than many players express over a career. Jerry had the same gift.

Most importantly though, Goodman was the master of melody. Same with Garcia. And that my friends, is the meat of this music journalism biscuit. Melody. Not just the ability to -maintain- a melody, but the genius to take that melody to places a human voice could never find.

Face it: as music lovers we project ourselves -into- the music. And although we don't sing along to a solo, if a player harnesses a melody our mind's ear can follow, we begin to -trust- the music. Something in us becomes emotionally invested in the melody. Not only do we follow, we begin to anticipate the melody. When a player articulates unexpected melodic twists, without losing the melody itself, a sense of adventure spices up the relationship between listener and musician.

It's that same spicy ingredient, surprise twists of richly textured melody, blended with sweet swirls of pure tone, that connects the two seemingly unrelated musical flavors of Ben(ny) Goodman and Jerry Garcia. Tasty scoop, don't ya think?

Lee Abraham is a freelance music journalist who learned a long time ago to never go grocery shopping with the munchies. Meeting deadlines is another story however, and although the snackin' scribner isn't big on ice cream, he is a certified 'Doone Looney' shortbread cookie aficionado, frequently finding inspiration at the bottom of an empty milk glass. For his views on 2% reduced fat vs. whole milk, and whether or not to pay the extra buck for organic, log onto http://www.mrlee.com or contact him directly at mrlee@jambands.com.