Ch 5 notes

The King of Swing

• Mechanisms for stardom (agents, national radio, recording) in place by mid-1930s; needed a star → Benny Goodman.

• Goodman’s clarinet mastery + John Hammond’s patronage (record dates w/ Holiday, Smith, Hawkins, Wilson, Teagarden) built momentum.

• Let’s Dance (NBC, late 1934–May 1935) – 3-hr coast-to-coast show; West-Coast time-shift meant peak-hour exposure.

• Palomar Ballroom, Los Angeles 21 Aug 1935: teenagers stormed stage → date conventionally marks “Swing Era” birth.

• After Palomar: fees \250\rightarrow\2,0002{,}000 per night; West-Coast record charts dominated; Variety adds weekly “Swing Stuff” column.

Goodman's Orchestra – Personnel & Sound Architecture

• Solo stars: Bunny Berigan (trumpet), Ziggy Elman, Harry James; Gene Krupa (drums) makes drummer front-line hero.

• Rhythm section ideal: Jess Stacy (p), George Van Eps → Alan Reuss (g), Walter Page-esque time + Krupa’s “on-top” groove.

• Arrangers (8 new charts/week via NBC budget): Fletcher Henderson (key charts: "King Porter Stomp," "Blue Skies"), plus Spud Murphy, Jimmy Mundy, Eddie Sauter, Mary Lou Williams, Benny Carter, etc.

Key Dates Timeline (Goodman Specific)

• 6 Aug 1934 – NBC Let’s Dance debut.

• 21 Aug 1935 – Palomar Ballroom ignition.

Representative Listening Guide (Goodman Specific)

  1. Goodman "King Porter Stomp" (Henderson arr.) – arch-swing template.

The Big Bands

• Talking pictures ended many theater pit jobs; Prohibition repeal (1933) turned speakeasies into tamer night-clubs.

• Consequence: One broadcast band replaced hundreds of local groups ⇒ oversupply of musicians, falling wages.

• Big-band economics flipped: hiring 12–16 players became cheap during Depression, reversed ≈25\approx25 yrs later when post-war wages rose.

Rival & Peer White Swing Bands

• Dorsey Brothers split 1935 (Tommy storms offstage). 1937–41: string of #1 hits – "Marie", "Song of India", "I’ll Never Smile Again" (12 wks on Billboard).

• Artie Shaw – “King of the Clarinet”; huge hits "Begin the Beguine", "Frenesí"; publicity from 8 marriages & frequent band break-ups; hired Billie Holiday (1938) & Roy Eldridge (1944).

• Trumpet Virtuosi: Berigan (dies 1942, age 33), Eldridge (bridge Armstrong→Bebop), James (rangy bravura, later pop schlock).

Big-Band Decline Factors

• AFM Recording Ban 1 Aug 1942 – Sep 1943 (Decca) / Nov 1944 (RCA & Columbia): stopped new releases.

• Wartime rationing: 30 % shellac cut, gasoline limits touring, conscription thins ranks, instruments scarce.

• Dance tax=30%\text{Dance tax}=30\% (mid-40s) & TV adoption → club closures.

• Post-war rising wages + housing-boom suburbs impeded large touring ensembles; pop crooners & R&B/rock captured youth market.

Declining Big Bands but Lasting Legacies

• Glenn Miller (1939-42) epitomizes swing’s pop climax: riffs "In the Mood", "Tuxedo Junction"; dies Dec 15 1944.

• By 1950: Goodman, Shaw, Basie, Ellington among few touring; many outfits become "ghost bands".

• Count Basie rebuilds “New Testament” band (1952-): tighter, dynamic charts by Neal Hefti, Ernie Wilkins.

Structural & Theoretical Take-aways

• Swing rhythm: transition from two-beat to $4/4$, quarter-note walking bass, hi-hat pulse.

big band; Post-war ↑ wages & costs + TV ↓ gigs → collapse.

Ethical & Socio-Cultural Threads

• Racial inequities: White bands (Goodman, Shaw, Dorseys) enjoyed better pay, hotel access, mainstream radio; Henderson & other Black innovators often eclipsed.

• Youth culture precedent: Swing students & jitterbuggers (Casa Loma campus fans, Goodman bobby-soxers) foreshadow rock demographics.

• Jazz as "mass media lifestyle marker" begins: Radio station, favorite band = generational identity.

Key Dates Timeline (General Big Band / Era Specific)

• 1 Aug 1942 – AFM recording ban begins.

• 15 Dec 1944 – Miller plane disappears.

Representative Listening Guide (General Big Band Specific)

  1. Casa Loma "Casa Loma Stomp" – 250 bpm precision.

  2. Dorsey (Tommy) "Marie" – riff/vocal interplay.

  3. Shaw "Begin the Beguine" – smooth clarinet.

  4. Eldridge w/ Krupa "Let Me Off Uptown" – hot trumpet/vocal dialog.

Kansas City Jazz

• Economic magnet: boss Tom Pendergast’s wide-open town (gambling ≈$100 M/yr\approx \$100\,\text{M}/yr, beer 0.050.05) drew musicians during Depression.

• Territory parallels: Texas western-swing (Bob Wills), Oklahoma & road circuits feed KC talent pool.

Bennie Moten → Count Basie Continuum

• Moten’s Victor sides (Dec 13 1932: "Toby", "Moten Swing") show shift to big-band 4/4 swing.

• Moten members migrate: Walter Page, Jimmy Rushing, Hot Lips Page, Lester Young.

• Basie Rhythm Section ("All-American Rhythm Section"): Basie (p, sparse "comping"), Walter Page (walking bass), Freddie Green (guitar 4-to-bar), Jo Jones (hi-hat time) ⇒ modern template.

• Signature hits: "One O’Clock Jump" (1937), "Jumpin’ at the Woodside" (1938), "Taxi War Dance" (1939).

• Tenor dichotomy: Lester Young (cool, linear, color-tones) vs. Herschel Evans (Texas moan): dialogue on tracks "Doggin’ Around", "Blue & Sentimental".

Key Dates Timeline (Kansas City Specific)

• 13 Dec 1932 – Moten Victor session.

Representative Listening Guide (Kansas City Specific)

  1. Moten "Moten Swing" – proto-Basie head chart.

  2. Basie "One O’Clock Jump" – minimalist piano + riff layers.

Jazz Combo Style in the 1930s

Lester Young & Transformation of the Tenor Sax

• Key recordings: "Oh, Lady Be Good" (Jones-Smith Inc. 1936), "Lester Leaps In", Billie Holiday sessions (1937-41).

• Direct aesthetic line to bebop (Charlie Parker) and to Cool (Getz, Desmond).

Racial Integration Milestones (Goodman’s Combos)

• 1935 Trio (Goodman-Wilson-Krupa); 1936 Quartet adds Lionel Hampton; precedent-setting for mixed combos.

Representative Listening Guide (Combo Style Specific)

  1. Goodman Trio "Body & Soul" – Wilson comping without bass.

  2. Young/Holiday "All of Me" – conversational micro-phrasing.

Duke Ellington: Middle Period and Later Work

1938–42 Creative Zenith

• New collaborators: Billy Strayhorn (joins 1938; writes "Lush Life", "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the A Train"), Ben Webster (ts), Jimmy Blanton (bass revolution).

• Landmark Victor sides: "Ko-Ko" (foreboding pedal), "Harlem Air Shaft" (ABCDDCBA mirror form), "Jack the Bear" (Blues + AABA), "Cotton Tail" (Webster solo).

• Formal experiments: Non-standard lengths (10,12,20 bars), multi-theme mosaics.

Extended Works

• Black, Brown & Beige (Carnegie Hall Jan 23 1943, ≈45 min\approx 45\,\text{min}) – 3-panel history of African-Americans; mixed critical reception but first major jazz tone-poem.

• Later suites: New World A’ Coming (1943), The Perfume Suite (1944), Deep South (1946), Liberian Suite (1947). 1950s-60s travel suites (Far East, Latin American), Sacred Concerts (1965-73).

Post-war Challenges & Revival

• 1950–55: Hodges, Brown, Greer exit; gig slump (Aquacades!); smaller labels (Capitol) yield few hits.

• Newport 1956 "Diminuendo/Crescendo in Blue" – Paul Gonsalves 27-chorus solo revives public interest; Time magazine cover, new Columbia contract.

• Late accolades: Presidential Medal, Legion of Honor, State Dept world tours; yet musical language stabilises in pre-bop lexicon.

Key Dates Timeline (Ellington Specific)

• 23 Jan 1943 – Black, Brown & Beige premiere.

• 7 Nov 1940 – Fargo Ellington broadcast.

• 6 Jul 1956 – Newport comeback.

• 24 May 1974 – Duke Ellington dies (lung cancer).

Representative Listening Guide (Ellington Specific)

  1. Ellington "Ko-Ko" – jungle modernism.

  2. Ellington "Harlem Air Shaft" – everyday NYC tone‐poem.

  3. Ellington "A Drum Is a Woman" (TV 1957) – narrative jazz theatre.