The Swing Era and Race (Steenalisa Tilcock)

Race played an important role in jazz history since the advent of the art form in New Orleans due to jazz’s very nature—it was a primarily black form of music that was appropriated by white culture.  However, in the 1930’s, it became especially pertinent for three main reasons.  Firstly, the “Swing Era” saw an upsurge in the number of white musicians playing jazz (Professor Stewart’s lecture).  Benny Goodman, for example, a white man, was crowned by many as the “king of swing” (Gioia 129).  Even though jazz had long been recorded and sold by white producers and bought by white patrons, this was the first time that black musicians saw any serious competition from white musicians (they had of course been present from the 1900’s onward, but there had been far fewer of them).  This created tension, as black musicians were now being edged out of their own art by white musicians.

Secondly, already strenuous race relations were exacerbated by what was probably the worst economic disaster in America’s history, better known as the Great Depression.  If times had been prosperous, there would likely have been room enough for both the white and black musicians to grab a piece of the pie.  As it was, the pie was very small, and musicians who were at a social disadvantage (i.e. because of race) were often excluded from it.  Black musicians now had to compete with more white musicians for fewer jobs, and they often found themselves unemployed.  As Professor Stewart stated in lecture, when times are bad, people who find themselves down on their luck generally try to find others to blame their problems on or to push beneath them.  This is exactly what happened to America’s black population, at the hands of America’s newly poor white population.

Finally, with the dawning of the Swing Era, jazz found a national market for the very first time.  This was incredibly exciting, as it meant the music was being enjoyed and appreciated by more people, extending its importance beyond being a merely regional phenomenon to a national movement.  However, it also meant that there was a lot more pressure on the musicians to produce what an incredibly wide (and white) audience wanted to hear.  If they failed to do this, it was very unlikely that they would be able to find even mildly lucrative gigs, which were offered by white record company owners and club proprietors.  Thus, black musicians were essentially leashed, unable to explore the full potential of their art due to the need to gain popularity among whites.  As Professor Stewart stated, “class dimensions turned artists into just workers.”  This new limited role was extremely inhibiting, and it is easy to imagine that it lead to a considerable amount of racial strain.

It was a combination of these three elements (including many other complex factors) that brought race to the forefront of jazz in the 1930’s.

Commented on Emily Wettleson.