Out in the Open: Discussion of Race During the Swing Era

            From its conception, jazz was associated with African-American culture. For this reason, white audiences and critics typically looked down upon jazz music, or even ignored it during its early years. Because of the white hegemony in all aspects of society, jazz music was not highly promoted before the swing era. However, the emergence of swing, especially due to its coincidence with the emergence of radio and mass media, catapulted jazz to a level of popularity that it had not previously known. This brought the spotlight onto black swing musicians, often playing alongside white musicians or for white audiences. Explicit discussions about the role of race in jazz music became common, with white critics like John Hammond leading the way. However, the rise of these discussions were not because race functioned especially differently in the world of swing than it had in earlier jazz, but rather to the increased acceptance of the medium into popular culture, which forced listeners to consider the role of race in the music.

            Prior to the swing era, whiteness was an important factor for the careers of jazz musicians, as white musicians like Bix Beiderbecke and the Austin High School Gang were able to profit more from jazz than their black counterparts, despite jazz being predominately a product of black culture (Lyttelton, 153-162). The hegemony of white people in the world of jazz continued into the swing era, where white musicians like Benny Goodman, who even played in Carnegie Hall, had more opportunities for success than black swing musicians (Gioia, 117). Success for black musicians depended on navigating a fine line of being a black band catering to white audiences. Duke Ellington proved most capable of doing this, though it came at the cost of giving the rights to many of his songs to his white agent, Irving Mills (Stewart, 2/10). This shows how even the most successful and talented of black swing musicians were forced to conform to the demands of a white supremacist society, much like their jazz predecessors from earlier decades.

            The rise of mass media in the 1920s and 1930s, particularly in the form of radio, caused a massive eruption of swing music across the United States (Gioia, 128). This brought the music of many black musicians to the ears of white listeners, many of whom were oblivious to the history of jazz before that point The new high demand for swing caused a secondary industry to rise around it: the industry of critics, exemplified by magazines like Down Beat (Stowe, 52). These types of magazines created a space where critics could discuss their opinions of swing music and swing musicians. In their evaluation of swing, progressive critics like Hammond were able to describe the role of race in swing music, and its connection to asymmetrical relationships between blacks and whites in society as a whole. These discussions were only made possible by the acceptance of swing music into mainstream culture.

            The popularity of swing music, aided by the rise of radio as a vehicle of mass media, prompted the creation of critical spaces where discussion of the role of race in the music could occur. White exploitation of black musical and musical labor and continued much as it had prior to the swing era. The difference during the swing era was that the music gained enough popularity for critics and audiences to play closer attention than they had before.

Works Cited

Gioia, Ted. The history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Lyttelton, Humphrey. Humphrey Lyttelton's Best of Jazz. London: Robson, 2008. Print.

Stewart, Jeffrey. "Swing and Kansas City." UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA. 10 Feb. 2015. Lecture.

Stowe, David W. Swing Changes: Big-band Jazz in New Deal America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1994. Print.