Swing music is quintessentially American. Swing evolved from many styles, cultures and musical traditions as well as historic events. In the Post Civil War era free blacks expressed themselves in a musical style called Ragtime. The most notable example of Ragtime is the performer Scott Joplin and the songs, The Entertainer and the Maple Leaf Rag. African rhythms were evident in this music bringing syncopation, or the accent on the second beat in contrast to the more classic European tradition of emphasis on the beat one. During the late 19th and early 20th Centuries due to an organized effort called Progrom, millions of Russian Jews immigrated to the US bringing their own musical traditions. Their music was characterized by minor scales that evolved in America into a style called the “Blues”. Famous examples include: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jan Savitt and later, Benny Goodman. African rhythms and minor blues notes came together in New Orleans, Louisiana as a form of the French Quadrille which was a style of march used in parades, funerals and at Mardi Gras. Thus Dixieland was born – later known simply as “Dixie” which is the melding of syncopation and blues notes. Examples of famous Dixie musicians include: King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Almost completely improvised Dixie was played by bands of 6-10 musicians playing only one of each instrument family including: clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, sousaphone, drums, sometimes piano and banjo.Dixie music was transported from New Orleans by the riverboats traveling north on the Mississippi to Chicago. Musicians such as Jellyroll Morton and Bix Beiderbeck performed Dixie for the riverboat patrons. Dixie began being played by dance orchestras such as the Paul Whiteman Orchestra that allowed Dixie to become more mainstream and popular. Instrumentation was expanded to include whole sections of the like family i.e.: saxes, trumpets, trombones. Due to the expansion of Dixie composers such as Fletcher Henderson and W.C. Handy wrote more arrangements for larger bands. Fletcher Henderson was well known as an arranger for the Benny Goodman Orchestra and went on to compose several hits for Goodman. Popularity and familiarity with innovation and specific bands was enhanced by technological improvements such as radio and recordings. Radio and records made music more readily available. This allowed people across the country to hear new songs sooner and to be exposed to a large variety of bands. Assisting in the popularity of swing was The King of Swing - Benny Goodman’s, successful run at the Pallomar Ballroom in Chicago in 1935 and famous performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938. If you would like to learn more we encourage you to read or watch Ken Burn’s – Jazz – A History of America’s Music. |
