Swing

The big swing era of the 1930’s captures jazz music in its prime, “if jazz ever enjoyed a golden age, this would be it”, (Gioia, 145). The 1930’s also acted as a catalyst for integration and miscegenation in America. The swing era mirrored the United States as there was now a choice between black and white in what was to be considered, American culture. The partial unionization caused also created tensions and raised issues of race in the communities and media. With the help of the radio, for the first time blacks and whites had a common ground in terms of culture. Race is written and talked about like never before during the swing era because people were interacting like never before. The only issue was not race; there were also a conflict of “musician vs. critic” (Stewart, 14, February 2013), and competition among one another to be the best.

The legendary Duke Ellington can be seen as the musician who was the epitome of the big swing era conflicts. Ellington was able to cross over and become widely popular. He also played at venues, which were segregated, to Black people, such as the Cotton Club. Because of his decisions he was heavily criticized for abandoning his own people and conforming to white standards in terms of his music. Among his worst critics was John Hammond, who was a white man, and had large influences on jazz by discovering legendary players. Although Hammond was a white man, he critiqued a black man for selling out to the white popular culture. They’re feud brought about many racial tensions. Among the racial tensions underlies the evidence that jazz was in white homes, (Swing Changes). With popularity in white homes come white musicians. Competition of whether black or white people play better jazz remains a trend. The battle at the center of black vs. white jazz musicians was the Benny Goodman vs. Chick Webb play-off in Carnegie Hall. Benny Goodman, also known as the “King of Swing”, lost to Webb, a less popular black musician.

The swing era was able to create a common ground for white and black people. The music brought these people together to create true “American Culture”. Although the process of integration may have not been a smooth ride, it sparked the beginning of a revolution. Race is central to the Swing Era because it worked to put blacks on a more equal level with whites, “swing was in fundamental sense an African-American music that somehow, for the first time since antebellum minstrelsy, black culture had become for may of its young people the American culture of choice”, (Swing changes, 54).