Swing Changes Everything

Jazz has had a tendency to include racial discourse in its discussion since its founding. The racial roots and discourse, however, have been essential in its development through New Orleans, NY, Chicago, and into the Swing Era of the 1930s. With the end of Prohibition in 1933, the ethos and ambiance of jazz in the speakeasy was demystified as jazz moved from the underground to the mainstream. Race became an explicit topic, discussed in detail like never before for a number of reasons. The onset of the Great Depression accompanied by the end of prohibition and the invention of the radio developed a competitive environment for the jazz musician. This competition is antagonized by the integration of blacks into white bands, and black musicians hiring white agents. Together these factors lead to the explicitness of race in the 1930s.

The Great Depression devastated the music and recording industries. Record sales in the US had surpassed one hundred million in 1927, but by 1932 only six million were sold—a staggering decline of over 90 percent (Gioia 135). In addition, the creation of the radio now allowed a few bands to entertain thousands of people. Black and White musicians alike had to compete for what little financial benefits the industry had to offer. White bandleaders found much easier working conditions compared to blacks. Of the five major sources of big-band income—record sales, one-night engagements, theater shows, hotel location jobs, and commercially sponsored programs, black bands were restricted to the first three (Swing Changes 123). Without access to the latter two, black bands had to travel constantly; conditions which did not favor keeping a band together for very long. Duke Ellington was one of the few blacks who exploited this new economic game. He hired a Jewish agent to mainstream his music and book him at only the finest venues.

By 1941 barriers that had previously stood against integrated bands had fallen, with Benny Goodman’s hiring of Christain and Henderson (Swing Changes 129). Godman’s performance at Carnegie hall alongside two black musicians solidified jazz as a high culture musical form. Though both races seemed on equal platforms, whites received much higher pay than blacks. This made black bands vulnerable to white bandleader vultures that could pay the blacks a higher wage. Swing had made it possible for black and white musicians “to know each other on grounds of intimacy never dreamed of in the stilted days of ragtime and jazz” (Swing Changes 129).

The newfound “intimacy” of blacks and whites in the music industry during the 1930s made race an explicit topic. White critics were now able to critique blacks because they were on more of an equal playing field. While these critics lacked the empathy and criticism of the black musician needed to review their pieces, White critics such as Hammond exemplified the thoughts of the white fan during the time. The Great Depression and radio created a competitive enough environment which led to the integration of bands, and forced blacks to the front of the discussion in Swing Jazz.

New York as the More Important Jazz City

            After it’s emergence in New Orleans near the turn of the 20^th century, jazz split in two directions: Chicago and New York. While Chicago held tightly to the roots of jazz created in New Orleans, New York attempted to evolve the sound and make jazz the most popular music of the day. New York achieved this feat through its heterogeneous community, distinct style, and exceptional musicians such as James P. Johnson.

According to Ken Burn’s theory, superlative individuals make jazz. These musicians are unmatched in their ability to play, perform, and adapt to the community’s interests. In cohesion with Burn’s theory, M.M. Bakhtin argues that there must be a dialogic involved in the creation of, in the context of this course, jazz. This dialogic imagination refers to the idea that a musician, novelist, etc. does not create a new piece without an intended listener in mind. This coincides with Thompson’s African theme of call and response. In Harlem during the 1920s, not only did the community create and influences the jazz, but also the jazz that helped build and create a culture in the community. Dr. Stewart proclaims Harlem was a crucible in which things are heating up and welding into one another to produce a distinct sound. The heterogeneous city that is Harlem gets its unique diversity from the middle class white neighborhood it was created for, and the plethora of races and cultures which eventually occupied it. Thus emerged the two Harlems: Renaissance and rent party. Renaissance Harlem had a deep community pride and provided a black “high culture”. Rent party Harlem reflected a crueler reality (Gioia 94). While Harlem Renaissance created a cultural context for jazz, the rent party led to the fusion cultures to create stride piano.

Stride piano is a style of jazz distinct to New York. It seeds from the rent parties of Harlem in the 20s where musicians were forced to change their style in accordance to the crowd in which they were playing for. Thus, the rent party musician must be practiced in classical, ragtime, blues, and jazz sounds. Combining these styles creates stride. Playing stride piano requires the improvisation and call and response necessary to please audiences of different tastes. Whereas Chicago style was more of an impersonation of New Orleans style, as demonstrated by the Austin High School Gang, New York’s community and artists produced its own style and directly contributed to the evolution of jazz.

James P. Johnson epitomizes the New York jazz pianist’s sound. Johnson’s “Carolina Shout” came to be the test-piece of all aspiring jazz pianists (Lyttleton 34). In the words of Duke Ellington, considered by some to be the premiere jazz musician, “James took over. Then you got the real invention—magic, sheer magic.” This incredible talent came from Johnson’s well known upbringing in various styles of music, including the ones mentioned above which led to the emergence of stride. This evidence may suggest Johnson to be the father of stride, and thus New York’s most important figure.

Jazz in New York helped mainstream the sound and consequently allowed the music to evolve into a much more fun and danceable form. Because of the heterogeneous nature of Harlem, and its call and response/dialogue, stars emerged to push jazz forward, making New York a more important city for jazz.

Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

Lyttelton, Humphrey. The Best of Jazz. New York: Taplinger, 1979. Print.