The successful concert secured jazz music's permanent place in the music world. Goodman went on to become a 1982 Kennedy Center Honoree.
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All Jazzed Up
The first jazz concert is performed at Carnegie Hall
Though jazz music originated in the early 1900s, it took several decades until it was commonly recognized as a serious musical form.
While there’s no way of putting an exact date on when this happened, jazz music did make history on this day in 1938. The prominent New York City music venue Carnegie Hall hosted its first jazz concert, performed by the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Guest artists included Count Basie and members of the Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras.
Initially, Goodman was hesitant to play at Carnegie Hall fearing mainstream audiences were not ready to accept jazz music. He was happy to be proven wrong by the 2,760 sold-out seats.