The Swing Era - A Progressive Time Hidden within the Great Depression

Societal tensions were on the rise in the 1930’s for American history. The Great Depression financially victimized not just a vast population of U.S. citizens, but also the foundations of capitalism itself. In terms of racial discourse, people claimed that desegregation and miscegenation would begin to perfuse itself onto society and destroy its moral integrity. In other words, people were content with the status quo, a separate but equal mentality that determined much of society’s structure. At this time however, there was pressure coming from the opposite end. Radicals such as John Hammond spoke their minds, criticized those opposing progressive measures, and influenced the political system. As racial tensions have always existed in the history of jazz, it was not until economic, political and technological advancements during the Swing Era that race has become an explicit topic in the development of American music.

Until Benny Goodman’s performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938, jazz players were solely regarded as a musical underclass (Gioia 138). This musician known as the King of Swing essentially made “jazz legit in one night” (Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938). Jazz started to become an accepted genre of music in popular American culture. Goodman was capable of garnishing this success by the simple fact that he was white. He, along with other white band leaders, were readily accepted by mainstream America (Gioia 142). Nonetheless, black jazz musicians such as Chick Webb (an energetic drummer) and Duke Ellington were able to make a name of themselves.

Commercialism plays an intricate role in the development of Swing and racial desegregation. The emerging “music business” took a nose dive in the Great Depression and did whatever it took to survive. Generally, musicians did not want to be politically segmented and focused on expanding their audience (Lecture 2/14). For example, Ellington was criticized by John Hammond for using his musical abilities to only promote his commercial success. This artist played at the Cotton Club, where blacks were unable to attend. Ellington did not speak out against racial injustices and focused mainly on his career. What gave people like Hammond the authority to criticize others was the instability of the American economy and government. A prime example of this would be the Scottsboro Case in 1931, indicating that radicals had an influence on all levels of government. Capitalism was on a sharp decline and people began to criticize whatever they see displeasing.

With the end of prohibition and the radio eclipsing the vitrola as a source of music, entertainment from speakeasies and dance halls moved into American homes. The radio’s success specifically during the Depression is partly due to the fact that it was “free once you buy one.” On a grand scale, this did not help musicians during the Depression. With the radio, just a few bands could perform for countless listeners that previously required thousands of musicians (Gioia 136). Although it certainly helped a select few jazz musicians become wealthy and famous in a short matter of time. A more important implication of these magical airwaves was the fact that its audience was unaware of the musicians’ ethnicity. It was an anonymous performance that effaced predisposed judgment of music based on race.

Political and economic implications from the Great Depression are responsible for racial issues becoming explicit and affecting the course of history for jazz in the 1930’s. When capitalism hit an all-time low, people were unafraid to criticize social injustices. On the other hand, there was opposition to the very idea of ethnic integration and miscegenation in society. The Swing Era marked a time of progression, where musicians began to play in previously segregated theatres, and the radio which created a popular culture with race having less involvement in one’s taste in music.

Harlem, a Bridge to Modernity

By the early 1920’s, the center of the jazz world shifted northward from New Orleans to Chicago and New York City. Prominent jazz musicians left their traditional lives in hopes of a better life, freedom, and financial security that the North appeared to offer. Between 1916 and 1919 a vast population shift towards the North known as the Great Migration took place due to a combination of historical factors such as industrialization, halted immigration, and soldiers leaving vacancy of jobs to fight in World War I. Jazz started to leave its ragtime, marching band, and ensemble emphasis and tended towards a soloist style with smaller bands and more piano usage which served as an important link between classic European high culture and new Black musical innovation.

At this time, New York City became a newly established landmark of Democracy, human intellect, and profound assimilation of culture. Harlem, a “sharper color in the kaleidoscope of New York” is where jazz owes much of its prominence to over that of Chicago (Survey Graphic). Visually undistinguishable from the rest of the concrete jungle of New York City, Harlem served uniquely as a “laboratory of great race [and class] welding” and a conglomeration of a cultural elite (Survey Graphic). It is this combination of the African traditions of southern country people and the European traditions of Creoles that formulated jazz (Johnson 29). A full spectrum of human expression resided in this area as poets, writers, artists, musicians, and historians came to participate in this renaissance. It is rightfully called the Harlem Renaissance due to its outpour of intellectual genius, which emerged by finding its “proper context, its proper environment, and its proper audience” (Lecture 1/19). Harlem became the proper environment to a greater span of people due to deep social integration. Harlem based musicians were taking inspiration from the South and West, which in turn, created a competition within jazz styles which furthered its diversity, an important concept for the later upbringing of Swing (Henderson 103). Those of differing financial status, race, and religious affiliation were no longer inhibited from creating high art. At the start of the Swing Era, New York also played an important role commercializing and marketing culture on a national scale. For this reason, New York has a greater importance to the history of jazz and its ability to become a world renowned musical genre of human achievement.

To evaluate the importance of one city over another, it is crucial to recognize the influence that the great city of Chicago had on jazz history in comparison to Harlem. Chicago had its own degree of social integration which leaned towards commercialism. As such, Chicago’s accomplishments in terms of jazz music are more tangible than that of Harlem’s. Chicago enjoyed its economic splendor during the roaring twenties, and produced the right environment to expose some of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, The Austin High School Gang (a prime example of white appropriation of black music), and Louis Armstrong. However, Chicago’s racially segregated walls looked opaque in comparison to Harlem’s. Chicago was racially divided; blacks were prohibited from living on the northern side. It is important to note that in Harlem, Duke Ellington was capable of organizing a black band that catered to a white audience at the well-known Cotton club (Lecture 2/12). This artist, best representing this fast pace of changing culture, became an important figure by intelligently responding to his audience, which exemplified Bahkin’s Dialogic that the artist must be able to communicate with the audience and react with the environment to succeed. He was able to market himself with his agent, Mills, effectively, thereby significantly contributing to the spread of popular culture. Similarly, James P. Johnson and his stride piano style contributed to the emergence of swing and modern musical expression through mass media. Unfortunately this did not carry over to Fletcher Henderson (featuring Louis Armstrong) who tended to create composed music that did not evoke dancing.

Harlem was faced with duality, the reputation of being a high renaissance center point as well as being a decaying slum. In other words, “The Harlem Renaissance created an ideology, a cultural context for jazz but the Harlem of rent parties and underground economies created music.” (Gioia 94). Despite of this poverty lurking into the streets of Harlem, music from this part of society was still making its way into high culture of society. Jazz musicians would play for these rent parties, but also for the dance clubs and halls.

It was New York’s shift towards modernity that allowed Jazz to become what it is today, a classic. The intellectual crucible of Harlem created the ideology for a society to welcome genius, no matter who it came from. Through New York, jazz and swing styles of music were nationalized on a larger scale in comparison to the influences of Chicago. Chicago’s commercial success and superstars had a significant impact, but did not make jazz universal.