Tommy Dorsey was a superb trombonist who set the standard for that instrument in the Swing Era just as Goodman did for the clarinet. His first major band started recording in September, 1935, and it soon claimed a leadership role among bands. However, the band underwent a significant transformation in 1940 with the addition of several key personnel, among them drummer Buddy Rich, trumpeter Ziggy Elman, singers Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines, and, most importantly, arranger Sy Oliver, who was lured away from the Jimmie Lunceford band to create an entirely new and dynamic style for Dorsey. The excitement caused by this group was such that when the Palladium, a huge new Hollywood ballroom, opened in October, 1940, the management chose the Dorsey band as its star attraction. For several years it became a style setter. George Simon called this band "the greatest all-around dance band of them all!"