Ted Gioia
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780190087210
- eISBN:
- 9780190087227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190087210.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter looks at the dramatic changes in American culture during the 1930s, when danceable swing jazz played by big bands became the most popular music in the United States. The emergence of a ...
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This chapter looks at the dramatic changes in American culture during the 1930s, when danceable swing jazz played by big bands became the most popular music in the United States. The emergence of a more propulsive dance beat in Kansas City jazz, led by the Count Basie band, set the stage for this shift in the public’s tastes. But the rise to fame of Benny Goodman in the mid-1930s was the transformative event that established jazz as the dominant sound of ballrooms and radio broadcasts throughout the country. This chapter looks at Goodman and his clarinet rival Artie Shaw, and the other leading big bands of the era, as well as the seminal work of Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams, and others. The chapter concludes with an account of Duke Ellington’s mid- and late-career music.Less
This chapter looks at the dramatic changes in American culture during the 1930s, when danceable swing jazz played by big bands became the most popular music in the United States. The emergence of a more propulsive dance beat in Kansas City jazz, led by the Count Basie band, set the stage for this shift in the public’s tastes. But the rise to fame of Benny Goodman in the mid-1930s was the transformative event that established jazz as the dominant sound of ballrooms and radio broadcasts throughout the country. This chapter looks at Goodman and his clarinet rival Artie Shaw, and the other leading big bands of the era, as well as the seminal work of Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams, and others. The chapter concludes with an account of Duke Ellington’s mid- and late-career music.
Christopher Wilkinson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617031687
- eISBN:
- 9781617031694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617031687.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter examines the repertory of music played by the touring bands at the numerous dances for which they were engaged in West Virginia during the 1930s and 1940s. It provides evidence to the ...
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This chapter examines the repertory of music played by the touring bands at the numerous dances for which they were engaged in West Virginia during the 1930s and 1940s. It provides evidence to the diversity of tastes in dance music and suggests that the main types of audience, those who prefer swinging jazz and those who prefer sweet styles, were not defined by class. The chapter also suggests that all of the black bands were prepared to perform arrangements running along the spectrum of style from sweet to hot, and did so with great regularity.Less
This chapter examines the repertory of music played by the touring bands at the numerous dances for which they were engaged in West Virginia during the 1930s and 1940s. It provides evidence to the diversity of tastes in dance music and suggests that the main types of audience, those who prefer swinging jazz and those who prefer sweet styles, were not defined by class. The chapter also suggests that all of the black bands were prepared to perform arrangements running along the spectrum of style from sweet to hot, and did so with great regularity.
Michael Jarrett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781469630588
- eISBN:
- 9781469630601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469630588.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Production before the advent of magnetic tape—in the era of 78-RPM records—emphasized "pre-production." A&R men (short for "artists and repertoire") chose artists to record, and they paired songs ...
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Production before the advent of magnetic tape—in the era of 78-RPM records—emphasized "pre-production." A&R men (short for "artists and repertoire") chose artists to record, and they paired songs from the publishing firms of Tin Pan Alley with artists. The A&R work of Milt Gabler (at Commodore and Decca Records) and John Hammond and George Avakian (at Columbia) is exemplary. Gabler organized a series of jam sessions, which he recorded. Avakian produced Chicago Jazz (1940), the first jazz "album" of original material. As part of their popular music divisions the major labels—Columbia, Decca, and RCA Victor—record and market jazz. A number of specialty labels emerge: Commodore, Prestige, Contemporary, Verve, Blue Note, Atlantic, Riverside, and Savoy. Though dependent on pressing plants owned by the majors, they reflect the production philosophies of the connoisseurs who founded and owned them.Less
Production before the advent of magnetic tape—in the era of 78-RPM records—emphasized "pre-production." A&R men (short for "artists and repertoire") chose artists to record, and they paired songs from the publishing firms of Tin Pan Alley with artists. The A&R work of Milt Gabler (at Commodore and Decca Records) and John Hammond and George Avakian (at Columbia) is exemplary. Gabler organized a series of jam sessions, which he recorded. Avakian produced Chicago Jazz (1940), the first jazz "album" of original material. As part of their popular music divisions the major labels—Columbia, Decca, and RCA Victor—record and market jazz. A number of specialty labels emerge: Commodore, Prestige, Contemporary, Verve, Blue Note, Atlantic, Riverside, and Savoy. Though dependent on pressing plants owned by the majors, they reflect the production philosophies of the connoisseurs who founded and owned them.
