Meanings of Jazz in the 1930s

     What is the difference between the 1920s and the 1930s in terms of the symbolic meaning of jazz? In the 1920s jazz was considered as the cultural thread or rebellion against the society, one that is characterized as “a dangerous social miscegenation” (Swing Change, p53). As Gioia shows, even average black family felt hostility to jazz so that jazz wasn’t allowed to be played in their house in Harlem (p91). But in the 1930s jazz came to take on “ideological meanings” in more explicit way. What made this change possible?

     One of the reasons is that the jazz moved into the mainstream, and was recognized as part of a part of popular culture. As jazz moved into the mainstream, the society was still segregated. So People had to face the substantial contradiction inherent in jazz; racial inequality in jazz.  In this context, many criticisms were published during the 1930s to discuss the racial inequality in jazz industry.

     The biggest reason lies in this emergence of swing critics in 1930s and following movement toward swing integration. The major person in this movement is John Hammond. He was a producer, talent scout, and musical critic. He discovered many black jazz stars including Count Basie and Billie Holiday.  He was brave enough to criticize Duke Ellington in terms of political and racial matters. His argument focused on “his racial insensitivity to the troubles of ‘his people’” (Lecture, February 14, 2013). Duke made a compromise racially and economically by entering Cotton Club (Lecture, February 14, 2013). Cotton Club was famous for a segregated night club where many white audiences came to expect the black performers’ exoticism represented by “jungle” sound.  So for a commercial success he had to succumb to the segregated tradition in jazz industry.  But there was the change of his attitude toward race between the 1920s and the 1930s. He could get through in 1920s without mentioning race but he no longer avoided race in 1930s mainly because of the emergence of critics like Hammond. This change of his attitude is good example of the shift of meanings of jazz from the social threat to the political meanings.

     Hammond also had a powerful influence in shaping the musical styles of Benny Goodman, known as “King of Swing”.  He led Goodman to break the segregated practice deeply rooted in jazz industry; Goodman hired the black musicians as sidemen in his white band for the first time and also hired Fletcher Henderson as an arranger. The first moment of swing integration was represented by his concert with black jazz players in Carnegie Hall which was regarded as for European music.  

     It was in Down Beat which many critics including Hammond published their article. Down Beat, which was founded in 1934, judged music on the basis of their ability not their color. Its policy is that “It reported the progress toward racial equality taking place within the music profession.”(p75). So it handled with more political and racial issues as Hammond criticized Duke. It attacked the racism within the music industry. So it was critics who provided the ideological meanings to jazz.  In a way, it played a role as a dialogue between jazz musicians and white jazz fans. The new conversation between jazz players and white jazz critics through magazines made possible because black musician came to take criticism by white critics more seriously.

     Swing era brought numerous changes to jazz industry. The biggest change was the herald of jazz integration.  Swing integration was pushed forward by these swing critics and radio broadcasting as Invisible media. To abolish the segregation within jazz music, race had to be discussed more explicitly.

Chicago Style

     In the 1920s Chicago played a definitive role in creating the foundation of modern jazz. During the Great Migration, Chicago functioned as a major receiving city for jazz musicians from the south. New Orleans provided a good place to give birth to jazz but it couldn’t contain the powerful new music. But Chicago was ready to accept jazz culturally and economically. The World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 represented the cultural and racial diversity and powerful economic power of Chicago. The significant point is that it was Chicago not New York that hosted the World’s Fair. The biggest difference between Chicago and New Orleans lie in the economic scale. According to Gioa, sidemen in Chicago could earn $40 a week while ones in New Orleans could just earn $1.5 to $2.5. Without this economic power of Chicago, jazz wouldn’t have flourished in Chicago.

     It goes without saying that this economic power was basically based on white society as D. J. Travis says “without white power one cannot earn big bucks in music world.”(p75). The “white power” usually meant gangsters, including the infamous Al Capone who flourished in the 1920s in Chicago. The criminal industry like speakeasies, ballrooms, and nightspots developed as a result of Prohibition; Lincoln Garden in Chicago, the Cotton Club in New York. As these show, jazz was closely connected to the audience’s dancing. It was these gangsters who hired many jazz musicians to make them play in their clubs. It is no doubt that jazz’s prosperity owed a lot to their economic power. Chicago was segregated during the1920s not only socially but musically; Black and white couldn’t play together and the place where they played was separated (downtown for white, South Side for black).

     While King Oliver and Armstrong had a powerful influence on other players in Chicago, new jazz style known as the stride piano was born and flourished in Harlem during the1920s. The development of the stride piano coincided with an increasing number of the rent parties. While the audience in Chicago was mainly the mob in the early 1920s, one in the stride piano was ordinary people. Unlike Chicago Style, Harlem stride piano had the closeness between players and the audience in a rather small environment like apartment house separate from criminals.

     While Harlem jazz style is represented by the stride piano, Chicago style is characterized as jazz of a soloist which is symbolized by Louis Armstrong. His emergence in Chicago jazz put an end to New Orleans jazz tradition which is characterized as the collective sound.  In Chicago style I can find more luxurious, sweet, and sophisticated sound which was influenced by the urban city, the gangsters’ prosperity, and the economic boom after World War I. The interesting thing is that the emergence of Armstrong as a soloist (musical independence) coincided with the emergence of black economy (economic independence) in Chicago. So his strong individualism sound seemed to represent the black society. It is noteworthy that white jazz movement represented by Beiderbecke and Austin High Gang emerged also during 1920s in Chicago, following Armstrong and King Oliver.  They imitated Armstrong and Oliver’s sound to make their own sound. So the Chicago style can also be defined as the mixture of black jazz, white jazz, and dance music.

     Chicago jazz’s significance lies in its influence on New York jazz; Armstrong had a great influence on Fletcher Henderson band and Benny Goodman, who came to represent New York jazz. Two big mainstream of jazz bumped into each other in New York so that new jazz style could bloom as a form of Swing jazz.