Big Blog no.1: American Roots Music

     Many different genres of music derived from a single genre, The Blues. Swing however is one that originated from the Blues. Swing evolved naturally from Jazz in New Orleans, Kansas City, and Chicago.  It is also known as form of Jazz that was developed in the 1930's and 40's in America. Swing music was also recognized as "Big Band" music because it was often arranged for a big dance band and had a number of musicians and instruments. Swing originated from artist like Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Fletcher Henderson, Jean Goldkette, and Duke Illington. The blues had a shuffle beat and evolved to be swing eighth notes of Jazz music. The name "swing" is known for the off-beats or weak beats in a meter. Jazz is a syncretic genre because it has roots from African-American traditions and West African musical expressions. Swing music has a lot of similarities from its origin, the Blues, like the Blue note. Blue notes are when the melody note is lowered and clashes with major harmonies, often with the 3rd note of a scale. Blue notes are expected to be major but turn out to be minor intervals. Some other characteristics of Swing are improvisation, strong rhythmic drive, clear and catchy melodies, call and response, and simple harmony (very similar to jazz and blues).  Some people think that Swing and Jazz are the same and some think they are two separate things. Swing bands would work and improvise music scores/arrangements from other jazz musicians. Even though jazz and swing are so similar, they are different genres. Here's a great song by Glenn Miller! 

   Swing music was most popular in 1935 through 1945, that period was known as the Swing era.  During that time in 1935, the topmost hit was the Benny Goodman orchestra radio show "Lets Dance", in his show he starred arrangements by Fletcher Henderson.  Benny Goodman was known to be one of the first most famous leaders of a swing band. Because of the rise in audiences of his show, later developed the Goodman's Palomar Ballroom success. The Palomar ballroom was well known in Los Angeles, CA, and was burnt down by a fire in 1939! Just like many other genres, the swing is compatible with dancing, also known as swing dancing. Young dancers of the time absolutely loved Goodman's arrangements and sense of rhythm.  There are actually two different styles of swing, "Hot" and "Sweet" swing. Hot swing had a more of a rough blues sensation and it was typically faster and had more improvisation. People like Duke Ellington (pianist) and Benny Goodman (clarinetist) produced "hot" swing. People like Glenn Miller presented the "sweet" Swing, which has less improvisation, is slower, and was played for upper-class occasions. Big bands would often feature soloist such as Louis Armstrong and Billy Holiday!   After the peak of swing music, it began to decline in the 1940s due to commercial/creative reasons and cultural interferences. 

 In the Other bandleaders such as John Kirby mixed classical music with swing and preferred smaller bands. More bands like the Savoy Sultans started to perform a " jump swing"  type of style that eventually evolves into Rhythm and Blues (R&B). According to the Downbeat interview with Duke Ellington in 1939, he disfavors the creativity with swing music. In later years, Ellington and other bands start to present styles of orchestral jazz and creative solos for smaller bands. Even though the swing era was declining it started bebop and R&B. During the rise and decline of swing music, it conflicted with World War II and the Great Depression. Swing music uplifted and helped distract the nation from reality by swing dancing after the Stock Market had crashed. Soldiers of WWII would even form their own orchestras because it played a big part in elevating and cheering up the war years. Big bands were a big reminder of the war and for that reason, it dwindled the trend of swing music because people wanted to push themselves away from war thoughts.  In 1944, the US government passed the cabaret tax in an attempt to fund the war. The tax took part of the genre's decline in the 1940s. The cabaret tax took 30% of the receipts from music clubs. In aware of this, clubs downsized to small bands to avoid paying more. That's where bebop came into place.

Bebop (Bop) is a version of jazz that evolved in the early 1940s. Some characteristics of bebop tend to be more profound than that of jazz or blues. It consists of fast tempos, quick chord changes, compilated chord progressions, use of scales, many key changes, improvisation, and instrumental virtuosity. Because of its quick tempos, bebop was not considered dancing material. An instrument that was common in bebop music but wasn't in the swing was the guitar.  As big bands continued to diminish in the 1950s, swinging' pop started to rise. People like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole became associated with swinging' pop (a watered-down version of swing). Swinging' pop continued to be admired through the '60s. There was a good amount of instruments that were played in big bands. In fact, the most common number of instruments was 17, and any band that had under 10 instruments would have been considered a small band. Swing bands consisted of five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, and four rhythm instruments were drums, guitar, double bass, and piano. There will often be a violin/fiddle played in swing bands like the one below! I also have an example of bebop music and how complex the chords and the progressions are!

Another form that swings brought forth was the Western Swing. Western swing is a subgenre that was fused with Country music and blues/swing. It also has mixtures of polka, folk, Dixieland jazz, and cowboy music. Bob Willis and Milton Brown are recognized as the artist who created and popularized western swing in the 1920s of west and south. It is usually characterized by the quick tempo, heavy rhythm for dancing, and improvisation. Before the club tax, western swing lured many audiences in dance halls in Texas, California, and Oklahoma. Western swing consists of drums, saxophones, accordions, violins, pianos, and steel guitars! Also used electric amplification for the guitar to give it a unique timbre. Willy Nelson and "Asleep at the Wheel" are some people who still perform western swing today!

Citations:  Wikipedia contributors. Swing music, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_music#cite_note-23, Jan. 26, 2021.

Wikipedia contributors. Western Swing, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_swing#:~:text=Western%20swing%20music%20is%20a,the%20region's%20Western%20string%20bands, Jan. 26, 2021.

The Death of Swing Music. (2021, Jan. 26). Arcadia Publishing. https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/July-2018/The-Death-of-Swing-Music.

Wikipedia Contributors. Bebop Music, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop, Jan. 26, 2021.

Silk Street Swing Band. (2021, Jan. 26). Silk Street Swing, https://www.silkstreetswing.co.uk.