Blog Post 2: Chicago (Steenalisa Tilcock)

            Although both Chicago and New York made significant contributions to jazz in the 1920’s, Chicago’s influence was ultimately more important.  Chicago supplied a stew of cultural conditions without which jazz, including that which would later migrate to New York, would not have been the same.  In the decades before the 1920’s, a large number of African Americans migrated from the Southern states and cities like New Orleans to the Northern states and cities like Chicago in order to escape poverty and discrimination and find new opportunities.  With this diaspora came New Orleans’ jazz musicians, including King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, who were also looking for economic opportunity.  As industry was important to Chicago’s economy, African Americans found jobs in factories and stockyards.  Given, these jobs were low-paying and involved grueling physical labor, but they were generally a step up from the plantation work in the South.  One way for people to break out of these conditions was to play jazz, and play it well.  Chicago’s economic and social environment allowed many opportunities for this.  Record companies were numerous, giving musicians a chance to have their music distributed widely.  In addition, Chicago fostered a thriving club scene, with institutions ranging from smoky speakeasies, to illustrious, high-class ballrooms.  Jazz musicians typically began their careers playing in lower-class clubs for black patrons and worked their way up to the fancier establishments with white patrons.  (This barrier was sometimes hard to break, and some of the top tier clubs remained open only to white musicians).  As control of Chicago’s clubs and recording studios was almost exclusively white, one could argue that it is largely due to the fact that Chicago’s white population enjoyed jazz that it became so popular, even though the people creating it were primarily black.

            The Chicago jazz style grew out of the New Orleans, largely because jazz arrived in Chicago through the players who travelled there from New Orleans, such as Oliver and Armstrong.  The jazz solo as we know it today was born in Chicago, and there musicians explored its vast potential.  Armstrong was a pioneer in this arena.  According to Fletcher Henderson, it was largely thanks to the influence of Armstrong—who during his stint with the Fletcher Henderson band energized its style—that swing became the phenomenon that it was.  Also on the forefront of Chicago jazz were cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frank Trumbauer.  They developed an aesthetic that we now refer to as “cool jazz,” which, according to Gioia, focused on “attaining a clarity of musical expression” (Gioia 81).  It differed from “hot jazz” in that it foregrounded emotion and expressiveness instead of chord-building and technical skill.  The completive interplay of counterpoint lines is also a characteristic Chicago jazz (Gioia 72).  The playing of a song was a musical battle instead of the harmonious blending together that it was in New Orleans.  This style seems to be unique to Chicago, as in New York the focus lay more on the interplay between sections instead of individual musicians.  In addition, clarinetists in Chicago helped push the instrument past the arpeggios that its style was previously confined within, giving it an aesthetic similar to the cornet, which allowed for experimentation and creative development.  Frank Teschemacher was a key player in this innovation—his daring style would later influence clarinetists such as Benny Goodman (Gioia 75).

            One band that represents the culture and community of Chicago is the Austin High Gang, comprised of students from Austin, west of downtown Chicago (Gioia 74).  They were inspired by recordings of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Beiderbecke, and their own later recordings were lively and energetic, much like Chicago’s club atmosphere.  The set-up of their band, with one musician to each part, follows the template set by Chicago ensembles, and their enthusiasm and devotion mirrors the attitude of the city.  Whether they loved the music or just loved to dance to it, Chicagoans were excited about jazz.

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