Blog #3

Race has always been a very important factor in jazz and the development of it.  There had always been problems between races, dating back to the early beginnings of jazz.  The Swing Era of the 1930s portrayed many differences that the blacks and whites had because during this time, the musicians were not only fighting for economic advances and privileges, but also respect for the cultural background of their race.  Although it seems that this tension continued on throughout the 1930s, jazz actually brought whites and blacks together to make some magnificent music as a team effort.  Two main events took place during the Swing Era which was located at The Savoy and Carnegie Hall.  Benny Goodman, a white musician, performed in a “musical battle” against black musician, Chick Webb, creating something that has gone down in history.  At Carnegie Hall, Benny Goodman again performed with three other musicians, who all happened to be black.  At this performance some people did not enjoy the mixture of races but others still were very fond of it.  Black musicians and white critics also played a role in this racial immigration of the 1930s.  John Hammond who was a white critic had some very strong words against jazz musician, Duke Ellington, saying that his “tact and suave manner disguised a willingness to tolerate racial indignities for the sake of commercial success” (Swing Changes).  Even with this embarrassment of a critique, Hammond later became a fan of different black musicians such as Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, and Billie Holiday. 

            Some of these black musicians tried to integrate races together more than others, such as Duke Ellington, and were actually very successful with the process.  Many factors played a role in this success, the main one being the radio.  With the radio, everyone and anyone had the ability to listen to jazz music, whether it was from a white or black musician and the listener was either white or black as well.  The radio brought many opportunities for both white and black musicians because of the fact that anyone could get their hands on one to listen to the jazz music of the 1930s.