Given that race has always been a discourse in the history
of jazz, why did race become explicit in the 1930s—written and talked
about in the “Swing Era” as never before?
Race became critical in the 1930’s
for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that jazz was becoming more
predominant in pop culture, therefore bringing attention to black culture. Jazz
was moving from the bordello to the night clubs, from the margins to the
mainstream. (Stewart, February 14, 2013) It was this attention to black music
and pop culture that made it expand into society. Also the process of American
assimilation of a Black-originated art form into the mainstream of popular culture,
jazz becomes an economic boondoggle. (Stewart, February 14, 2013). And finally
white musicians and Black musicians are in competition with one another for the
financial rewards and cultural respect for mastery of this art form. (Stewart, February
14, 2013)
In
my personal opinion, jazz became more popular because of race, because of the
Great Depression. The Great Depression really had an economic impact on jazz. I
believe since the Swing Era started that musicians had to travel more, if they
had the means, to make money. And this physical spread jazz, and the spread of
jazz called attention to race. The expansion of the Black art made a reckoning
of Black people and their culture. Resulting in an awareness of black people
Hey Krystal!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the three points you laid out in your introductory paragraph, but I think that you could have expanded on the impact of the Great Depression on Swing. Like, the critics' attacking Duke Ellington for so-called racial insensitivity, and how this criticism created tension between black artists and white critics.
I thought your blog was good, if a bit short. Like Anthony who commented above, I think you should include some points about the race tensions within the black community, rather than just the black vs. white racial tensions you have outlined. I like your points about the American appropriation of black music and culture, which I think is ultimately the source of all racial tensions in jazz, regardless of time period. As jazz is a primarily black art form (which you outlined well), these tensions expanded due to the mistrel-like treatment of black music in the 20s and 30s. Very nice blog, but it could be longer!
ReplyDelete