chapter 6 the swing era. jazz becomes the cornerstone of popular culture between 1935 and 1946,...

Chapter 6The Swing Era

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Jazz Becomes the Cornerstone of popular Culture

Between 1935 and 1946, jazz, or swing as it came to be called, was more popular than

anytime in its history, and influenced clothing styles, retail marketing, fashion, dance and even

language.

Jazz from 1935 - 1946

• Helped pull America out of the Depression and get through World War II

• Nursed the record industry back to health

• Filled dance halls all over the country with dancers.

• More than any other time, jazz reached out and connected with its audience.

• Band leaders became celebrities.

• Magazines like Downbeat and the Metronome followed every move.

• Bands of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie were among the greatest bands of the era.

• Helped develop many fine soloists and singers

Benny Goodman at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles (1935)

• Benny just got off a disastrous cross country tour. • Prior to the Palomar the band had met rejection at

almost every stop.• In Denver, were nearly fired.• No one was dancing; booing was common• In L.A. a DJ had been playing his records• The first night of the Palomar, the crowd roared

which told Benny Goodman that this music was going to be successful.


The swing era got its name from the musical The swing era got its name from the musical style that Goodman and eventually hundreds of style that Goodman and eventually hundreds of

other orchestras played. other orchestras played.

Why is it called the Swing Era?

Cultural Aspects of Swing• Teenagers embraces

swing music at their own and built an entire social phenomenon around it.

• New Clothing Styles: Bobby sox, white buck shoes with sweaters, pleated dresses for girls, zoot suits and port pie hats for males.

• Dances include the jitterbug, the Suzie-Q, the Lindy Hop, the big apple, and the shag.

• Jazz had is own lingo as well: “cutting a rug,” referring to dancing, a “belly warmer” was a necktie, a “dish” or a “fine dinner” was an attractive girl.

Sound of Changing America• As the first star of the swing

era, Benny Goodman was the lighting rob - the Elvis of his generation.

• In the six years since the onset of the Depression (1929), the country had been forced to reorganize itself both economically and socially.

• Economically, American labor industries turned to machines and new technologies to make the economy run more efficiently.

• Socially, age-old suspicions and prejudices among different ethnicities had to be abandoned as people increasingly saw a need to come together for the common good.

• Team work was in.• Radio and live broadcasts

helped bring people together.

The Swing Band• Jazz became a commercial

product that had to be produced, marketed and sold to the consumer in much the same way as a soft-drink or bar of soap.

• Standard instrumentation: 5 brass (usually 3 trumpets and 2 trombones), 4 reeds (saxes and clarinets), and a 4 man rhythm section

• Impeccable appearance and stage presence: Matching suits, tuxedos or flashy costumes.

• Standard repertoire: most bands had a mix of “hot” tunes (up-tempo dance numbers) sentimental ballads, novelty tunes and a few boogie woogie tunes (after the boogie woogie crazy of 1938

• Vocalists: Most bands had a “girl” singer, whose good looks were as important as their talents; many had a “boy” singer as well.

• Theme Songs: signature tune.

• Emphasis on playing danceable music and entertaining audiences.

3 Broad Categories of Bands• Sweet Bands - were cut in the mold of the Paul

Whiteman Orchestra, playing stock arrangements of overly commercial dance music. Ex: Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians and the Sammy Kaye Orchestra.

• Commercial Bands - straddled the fence and played a mix of hot and sweet music. This was most common: Ex: Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James.

• Hot Bands - were true jazz bands with the most exciting and jazz oriented arrangements as well as the best jazz soloists. Many of the era’s best hot bands were loaded with great jazz players: Ex: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford and Benny Goodman.3 Broad Categories of Bands

Benny Goodman• His parents were immigrants from

Easter Europe to fled to US.

• One of eight children

• Father (David) worked 12 to 16 hour days. Father instilled working hard.

• Benny was assigned the clarinet when his father enrolled him in the Kehelah Facob Synagogue

• Follow other clarinetists: Johnny Dodds (playing with King Oliver at Lincoln Gardens), Leon Roppolo (playing with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings), and Frank Teschmacher (of the Austin High Gang).

• In 1925 while only sixteen years old, Goodman took a job with the traveling Ben Pollack Orchestra, with a steady supply of gigs and recordings sessions to support the family back home.

• By 1929, Benny was confident enough in his skills to leave the Pollack band and strike out on his own in New York City.

• 1929 - 1934 -Made over 500 records.

• 1933 - In New York Benny got his first big break when he met jazz impresario John Hammond.

• Hammond helped Goodman start his own orchestra.

• His next big break was a spot on nationally broadcast NBC radio program “Let’s Dance.”

Benny Goodman• “Let’s Dance” was cancelled in May

1935 and Benny therefore took his band on the road to keep it together.

• Goodman’s cross country tour starting in New York ended up at the Palomar Ballroom in L.A. where on August 21st, 1935 the band had an unexpected success because his music from the “Let’s Dance” radio show had been playing on the air and attracting thousands of listeners and fans. There contract was extended another two months

• On their return trip home they secured booking at the Urban Room of the Congress Hotel in Chicago that was so successful that it was extended six months.

• During Goodman’s stay at the Congress Hotel gig made history by tearing down one of the walls of racial segregation.

• While at the Congress Hotel Benny started devoting part of the show to his trio which included black pianist Teddy Wilson. At this point, it was not appropriate for whites and blacks to share a stage on a huge publicized media event. The show went off without a hitch and Benny started hiring more black musicians.

• His trio therefore kept expanding until is was a sextet. It featured black musicians: Lionel Hampton on vibes, Charlie Christian on guitar, and Cootie Williams on trumpet.







Benny Goodman - The King of Swing

• From the Congress hotel, Goodman’s rise to the top of the music world was unparalleled. He became known as the King of Swing.

• In 1936 Down Beat Reader’s poll, the Goodman orchestra came in 1st with nearly three times as many votes.

• In 1937 he appeared at the Paramount Theatre in New York and broke all attendance records (21,000 showed up the first day).

• Goodman also made several more trips to L.A. where the band kept busy shooting Hollywood movies by day and appearing at the Palomar at night.

• He single handedly broke down racial barriers in jazz while he was in the national spotlight, the importance of which cannot be overstated.

• In 1938 his orchestra headlined the first ever jazz concert at Carnegie Hall to a standing room only crowd.

• Like Elvis twenty years later, Goodman brought black music to white America at a time when only a white performer could.

• He was comfortable in both worlds of classical and jazz.


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Duke Ellington Part II: 1931-1974

• In the years following their engagement at the Cotton Club, the Duke Ellington Orchestra took advantage of their growing national reputation and toured extensively.

• The were now earning $6000 per week, which put them in the upper echelons of the dance band business.

• The clubs and hotels they played were sold out.

• In 1933 they toured Europe, the first of nine tours.

• In 1934 Ellington was writing furiously and breaking ground seemingly with each new composition.












Ellington’s contributions• 1931 - “Creole Rhapsody” :the first recording to break the three-minute

barrier of the 78-rpm disc, “Creole Rhapsody was six and half minutes long and filled both sides of a disc.

• 1932 - “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”: the song title was apparently a favorite expression of Bubber Miley’s: it is credited with putting the term swing into general use, three years before the start of the swing era.

• 1933 - “Daybreak Express”: a remarkable piece that musically depicts a train starting up, cruising at top speed and finally arriving at the station. One of Ellington’s many train songs.

• 1934 - “Symphony In Black”: a four-movement, nine-minute piece depicting African-American life, it was the soundtrack to a non-dialogue film of the same name, making it in effect, the first music video.

• 1935 - “Reminiscing in Tempo”: a somber reflection on his mother’s death; at 13 minutes long it was the longest piece to date.

• 1937 - “ Caravan”: an exotic piece written with trombonist Juan Tizol that conjures up images of the Middle East and uses Latin Rhythms.

Ellington - Master Composer/Arranger

• By 1940 Duke Ellington had become the first important composer in jazz. In time his creative output would also make him the greatest composer in jazz, if not all American music.

• Over the course of his career he wrote roughly 2,000 compositions.• His music is filled with impressionistic and dissonant harmonies that were

years ahead of their time.• He often gave melodies to instruments that were not typically melodic

instruments, such as the baritone sax. He used cross-sectional voicing to achieve new tonal shadings, in direct opposition to the standard big band technique of sectionalizing the orchestra.

• He used a variety of mutes on brass instrument ot achieve more interesting tonal effects.

• He was the first arranger to use a wordless vocal.

Ellington’s Four Writing Styles

• Jungle - written for the Cotton Club floorshows, this category is generally comprised of songs featuring the growling wah wah brass of Bubber Miley and Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton.

• Concertos - as the first jazz composer to use the European concerto format, these were written to feature the unique talents of his many fine and versatile soloist.

• Impressionistic - Extended works written mainly in his middle and later career that evoke images of memories of people, places or history; this style can further be divided into four subcategories. (Musical Portraits, Musical Pictures, Historical Pieces, Religious)

• Popular Tunes - a huge catalogue of popular and dance tunes written throughout his career, often using the 32-bar standard song form or 12 bar blues form.

Ellington’s & Billy Strayhorn

• Ellington’s creative output as composer and arranger was enhanced in 1939 with the addition of Billy Strayhorn as a collaborator. Strayhorn was college educated (Unlike Ellington, who was self-taught).

• Strayhorn (who was known as Sweet Pea for his diminutive size and mild manner) also began to contribute his own compositions, including some of the most memorable in the Ellington library, including “Passion Flower,” “Chelsea Bridge,” and “Lush Life.”

• “Take the A Train” the tune that would become Ellington’s them song, was written by Strayhorn in 1941.

Ellington’s Orchestra Alumni include:

• Harry Carney - bari saxophonist for 47 years (1927-74). The first notable bari sax soloist in jazz

• Johnny Hodges - lead alto saxophonist for 38 years (1928-51, 1955-70)• Ray Nance, trumpet, violin, vocal for 34 years. Ellington called Nance

“Floorshow” because of his many talents.• Lawrence Brown - trombone for 29 years• Sonny Greer - for 28 years (1923-51).• Paul Gonsalves, tenor sax for 24 years (1950-1974)• Cootie Williams - trumpet for 23 years (1929-40, 1962-74)• Otto Hardwick - alto sax for 19 years• Cat Anderson - trumpet for 12 years (1944-47, 1950-59)• Rex Stewart - cornet for 11 years (1934-43), he used a half-valve technique to

give his horn a novel “talking” effect.• Ben Webster - tenor sax from 1939-1943.• Oscar Pettiford - bass from 1945-48• Jimmie Blanton - bass from 1939-1942, helped redefine bass playing.

Ellington’s “Famous Orchestra”

• From 1940 to 1943, Ellington’s orchestra was hitting on all cylinders, with players who had been with him for several years that were well rehearsed and tight. This would become known as his “Famous Orchestra,” and is regarded as the best lineup of his career.

Count Basie

• In Chicago in 1936, John Hammond heard the Count Basie Orchestra being broadcasted live on the short wave radio (W9XBY). John went to the Reno Club to hear the band live and wrote of their virtues in Down Beat articles. Within three years Basie’s band was one of the most popular in the country.


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Count Basie• Born on Red Bank, New

Jersey. • Learned to play stride piano

from Fats Waller.• Worked his way into the

music business playing organ in theatres and piano with traveling vaudeville shows.

• In 1925 was stranded in Kansas City when one of his shows ran out of money.

• Stayed in Kansas to pursue a music career and played with Jimmy Rushing.

• 1928 Basie joins the Blue Devils.

• 1929 Basie joins Bennie Moten’s Orchestra.

• His style was now streamlined, sparce and understated, often using little if any left hand. It was a major step forward in the evolution of jazz piano.

• One of Basie’s most important big band soloist was Lester Young.

The All American Rhythm Section When Benny Moten died in 1935, Basie put his own band together, secured the gig at the Reno, and assembled the greatest rhythm section of the era. Along with Basie and Page was drummer

Jo Jones, who shifted the emphasis of his playing away from the heavy bass drum on each beat to the high hat cymbal. The result was a lighter, more buoyant drumming style that was the perfect compliment for Basie’s piano style.

The All American Rhythm Section In early 1937 Basie replaced his original

guitarist Claude Williams with Freddie Green, who played a rock solid down stroke on every

beat. Because of the delegation of responsibilities and the lighter, more fluid

rhythm section, Basie revolutionized the rhythm section.

The All American Rhythm Section The “All-American Rhythm Section” as they were called,

was the first modern rhythm section in jazz history. With it,the Basie band built its reputation on swinging

harder than anyone else, rather than with arrangements or by playing the latest pop tunes.



Count BasiePiano

Walter Page Bass

Jo Jones Drums

Freddie GreenGuitar





Count Basie Alumni Include: Lester Young

Tenor SaxBuddy TateTenor Sax

Frank FosterTenor Sax

Clark TerryTrumpet









Don ByasTenor Sax



Buck Clayton




Dickey WellsT-bone

Harry EdisonTrumpet

Other Important Swing Era Bandleaders

• Chick Webb - hard swinging, Chick was one of the eras most powerful drummers. Ella Fitzgerald was his singer.

• Jimmie Lunceford - college educated, tight band, put on a show, matching uniforms, horn tossing.

• Cab Calloway - Biggest hit “Minnie the Moocher.” From the lyrics, his nickname was “hi-de-ho man.”

• Artie Shaw - achieve national fame with “Begin the Beguine”

• Charlie Barnet - referred to as the “White Ellington.” one of he first white bands to play Harlem’s Apollo Theatre. One of first band leaders to hire black musicians.

• Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey big bands.

Other Important Swing Era JAZZ STARS

• Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young (most important)• Billie Holiday• Roy Eldridge• Jack Teagarden• Jimmy Dorsey• Tommy Dorsey• Django Reinhardt• Roy Eldridge • Billie Holiday• Ella Fitzgerald• Sarah Vaughn

Billie Holiday

• Gave some of the most inspired performances by a jazz singer on record with unlimited emotion and expression.

• Father Clarence Holiday - guitar. Played with Fletcher Henderson.

• Sexual molested at age 10. By age twelve was a prostitute.• John Hammond discovered her.• 1935 - Made first recording as leader• 1940’s began using heroin and her life began to spiral downward. • Highlights of her last years include: In 1948 she broke box office

records with appearances at Carnegie Hall. In 1954 had successful Europe Tour.



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1915-1959

Factors leading to the end of the Swing Era

• By 1939 a steady supply of new startup bands had actually started to outpace demand for them.

• 1941 - World War II• Gas and rubber rationing. • 1942 - 1944 - Recording Ban.

Although successful, when over the publics attention shifted to other more accessible styles. . R & B and country were typically not union member.s

• 1944 - 30% amusement tax was imposed.

• Big Band collapsed was then shocking sudden.

• Thousand of musicians called up for duty.

• Predictability - became homogenized, cliché ridden and predictable.

• 1946 - six major bandleaders fold - Jack teagarden, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Benny Goodman.

• Changing Audiences - solo pop singers start to dominate - Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Pattie Page, Perry Como and Eddie Fisher were pop starts until the 1950’s.

• Bebop - musicians were searching for a more creative outlet.

• Public perception changed - jazz was no longer dance music and was now listening music.

chapter 6 the swing era. jazz becomes the cornerstone of popular culture between 1935 and 1946,...

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