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Jazz in the USA, 1930 to 1960

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Jazz in the USA, 1930 to 1960
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The Swing Era

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The swing style developed during the early 1930s, influenced by the work of band leaders and arrangers such as Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman. Important centres of the style were New York and
Kansas City.

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Big Bands
Big bands were key ensembles during this era. Band sizes varied considerably, ranging from a dozen players upwards. The basic band structure included:
• Saxophone section (some players doubled on clarinet or flute);
• Trumpet section;
• Trombone section;
• Rhythm section, including piano, rhythm guitar, string bass and drums; and
• Sometimes one or more vocalists.

Arrangements for big bands featured tutti and solo choruses, with new developments such as the shout chorus and the use of riffs to accompany solos or to serve a melodic function. The texture was light and the harmonies streamlined, resulting in speed, grace, and a buoyant, propulsive and infectious rhythm which was named swing.

! band style reached listeners across North America through records and the radio, and was
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performed by travelling bands. It became extremely popular, entertaining both listeners and dancers.
The bands were also an important source of musical and business education for the musicians who played in them.

! Groups and Soloists
Small

During the 1930s and 1940s, smaller groups were also prevalent in jazz. Some of these operated like miniature big bands (such as the Raymond Scott Quintette), while others (such as the Kansas City Six) took a much looser approach, with considerable emphasis on improvisation. The small group setting, with much greater scope for solos than the big band context, was especially valuable in offering opportunities for musicians to develop their technical skills and creative abilities.

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Musicians associated with the swing style include the following:
! Goodman (1909 – 1986)
Benny

Clarinet player from Chicago (classical training, with jazz experience from an early age)
Virtuoso performer
Skilled improviser in both ‘hot’ and ‘sweet’ styles
Disciplined and effective bandleader (his most successful band was formed in 1934)
Employed musicians from both black and white traditions, resulting in a musical combination of hard-driving, solo-orientated swing with the more deliberate and refined style of the white society bands, as well as an appeal for both black and white audiences
• An important classical soloist, recording and commissioning many works
• Suggested tracks: Let’s Dance (1934), I Got Rhythm (1938)
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Billie Holiday (1915? – 1959)
• Singer based in New York; successful from 1933 onwards
• Performed with musicians such as Benny Goodman, Lester Young, Count Basie and Artie Shaw
• An influential recording artist, acquiring wide popular following
• Light, poignant vocal quality
• Phrased her performances in the manner of an instrumental soloist
• Influenced by Louis Armstrong in her singing style and approach to rhythm
• Suggested tracks: He’s Funny That Way (1937), Strange Fruit (1939).

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Count Basie (1904 – 1984)
• Piano player (strongly influenced by Fats Waller’s stride style) and band leader, based in Kansas City
• Influential, blues-orientated, economic piano style based on brief right-hand figures, intensifying the rhythm and creating a contagious swing
• His band of 1936 – 1942 contained a particularly influential rhythm section; they introduced a constant pulse played on the hi-hat cymbal rather than the bass drum, with the bass playing a walking bass, freeing the pianist’s left hand
• His reed and brass sections were characterised by explosive accents and muscular phrasing
• Band arrangements notable for their use of riffs
• Employed many outstanding players, including