The Evolution of Jazz Music in the 1930s

Jazz is a musical art form that has expanded wellthe piano, drums, and banjo. It was unpredictable,
beyond its own genre definition, transforming withand the individual performers showcased their
every era and begetting countless other popularimprovisational skills, playing from their souls not
modern genre forms in the process. As an artistictheir notes.
invention of African American communitiesThe Rise of Big Band Swing
primarily in the Southern region of the UnitedAt the beginning of the decade white big band
States, jazz finds its earliest roots in New Orleans,swing performers played "sweet" jazz, making
where black performers blended Southern blues,use of violins and arranged sheet music. The
the startling variations of Caribbean music, and anreasons for this particular evolution of jazz music
altered form of traditional Europeanin the 1930s were twofold. It was more
instrumentation.composed and less offensive to the older white
Resistance to "hot jazz" in the early twentiethAmerican audience. At the same time, the onset
century ultimately contributed to the evolution ofof the Depression created a widespread need for
jazz music in the 1930s. In the 1920s, jazz musicinexpensive pleasantries, and jazz-inspired music
had spread to the North, Chicago and New York,gradually gained footing in the newly burgeoning
where bands gave their performances on theradio industry.
margins of society. During the Prohibition era, jazzThe more recognizable swing arrangements
was often performed in illegal speakeasies and theevolved when dancing became linked to big band.
Red Light district, causing this "wild" music to beDance styles, such as the Lindy Hop, that had
associated with the decadence of that era.been popularized in black communities in the 1920s
However, with the onset of the depression thewere appropriated by white teenagers and
Dixieland jazz that had dominated up until the endintroduced in dance halls. Swing orchestras
of the 1920s was gradually supplanted.became larger, with 20-25 pieces in a typical band.
The End of DixielandMusic was still arranged, but individual performers
Jazz slowly began to creep in at the edges ofwere given complex solos, and as was also typical
mainstream music because of its popularity onin sweet jazz, a singer performed vocals to the
college campuses, and in general, amongstmusic. Popular performers of the era include Shep
American youth. The evolution of jazz music inFields, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller.
the 1930s amounted to a compromise betweenThe undomesticated "hot jazz" of black
the music industry and the older generation ofperformers - including Duke Ellington, Count Basie,
white Americans, who were gradually acceptingand Jimmie Lunceford - persisted throughout the
the presence of jazz music in popular culture.big band era, but never gained the popularity of
However, this increasing popularization affected aits white counterpart. Big band singlehandedly
considerable dilution of the form, shedding muchdominated the entertainment industry, extending
of the raw, impromptu quality of earlier Dixielandbeyond radio to television and film in the 1940s.
jazz.The evolution of jazz music in the 1930s led to its
Dixieland was characterized by the convergenceeventual popularity across the continent and later,
of many forms - polyrhythmic ragtimes, the lowinternationally. Jazz music has been adapted
pitch of blue notes, French Quadrilles, andglobally across cultural lines, but its humble roots
improvisation, as well as a large rhythm section ofremain in New Orleans, Louisiana.
the trombone, trumpets, tuba, guitars, clarinet,