So I went to work there at Tansil's, and the guy says, "I got a little kid clarinet player coming out tomorrow night to sit in with the band. He's too young to hire."

Well, it developed that the kid was Benny Goodman--aged fifteen at most. And I thought to myself, "This little punk play clarinet? He's too small to blow it."

The little punk climbed up on the stand and got his horn ready. Then he played Rose of the Rio Grande which is a hard tune--I mean the changes for those days were difficult. This little monkey played about sixteen choruses of Rose and I just sat there with my mouth open.

Benny blew the hell out of that clarinet, and I almost died hearing him do it. So I latched on to him immediately, and said "You gotta come to our sessions over at Austin High [School, Chicago]. He was most happy to. He said, "Glad, sure!"

And he came out there and sat in with the Austin Gang.