![\"JAM](\"https:\/\/afm47.org\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/JAM-Poster-2016-Benny-Carter_022216_2-370x1024.jpg\")
Every April, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. selects a jazz icon to feature on the annual Jazz Appreciation Month poster. This year\u2019s poster honors performer, bandleader, and\ncomposer \u201cKing\u201d Benny Carter.<\/p>\n
Every April, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. selects a jazz icon to feature on the annual Jazz Appreciation Month poster. This year\u2019s poster honors performer, bandleader, and
\ncomposer \u201cKing\u201d Benny Carter.<\/p>\n
A Lifetime Member of Local 47, Benny Carter \u2014 known simply as \u201cKing\u201d to his fellow musicians \u2014 was a largely self-taught artist who became one of founding fathers of big band swing music. Early in his career, Carter arranged and composed scores for Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, and McKinney\u2019s Cotton Pickers, as well as for his own highly respected orchestras.<\/p>\n
Carter was also known as a pioneer in breaking down racial boundaries in jazz. In 1937, he led the first interracial, multi-national orchestra while living in Europe.\u00a0After his three-year residency in Europe, which was dedicated to spreading jazz throughout the continent, Carter settled down in Los Angeles, where he become one of the first African Americans to compose
\nmusic for films and television.<\/p>\n
In a salute to Carter\u2019s contribution to jazz as well as to highlight his exhaustive collection at the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will be presenting \u201cBenny Carter: The Groundbreaking King of Jazz\u201d to kick off Jazz Appreciation Month 2016.\u00a0The poster photo originated from the\u00a0Benny Carter Collection, located in the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History.<\/p>\n