The 1920’s and 30’s were significant decades for America. The Roaring 20’s are often characterized with great effervescence; a time of speakeasies, flashy parties, excessive wealth, good fortune, and jazz music. Jazz music, at the time, was the rhythm of the people. It moved with their joy and beat with their jubilance. But in 1929, everything changed. Tragedy struck, and the Great Depression befell the country like a suffocatingly thick blanket, smothering the flame of the American people. Despite these circumstances, or perhaps, because of these circumstances, people found the burning need to create and experience music deep within their souls. Jazz music, instead of expressing the joy of the people like before, drew it out from within them. It provided entertainment, relief, and redefined music and social standards for years to come, but also came with a dark side.
Jazz music was nothing new, but it grew with the struggling people of the time, making it so rawly human and deeply American. Originally, the foundation for Jazz music was Blues, …show more content…
In 1922, Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana and Paramount Records in Chicago began recording up and coming jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke (Tyle). Although the 1920’s and 30’s are considered the “Jazz Age,” the era is sometimes referred to as the “Dance Age” instead. Americans everywhere went crazy for exciting dances such as the Black Bottom, the Jitterbug, and the Charleston. Additionally jazz swing provided, “ the accompaniment for a host of exhilarating new dances: the Big Apple and Little Peach, the Shag and Susy Q, and the dance that had started it all - the Lindy Hop, now called jitterbugging” (Huber). The jazzy music for these dances were often played by 7 or 12 piece orchestras, and whether people heard the music in person or over the radio, the dances brought liveliness to the stressful lives of
Jazz music was nothing new, but it grew with the struggling people of the time, making it so rawly human and deeply American. Originally, the foundation for Jazz music was Blues, …show more content…
In 1922, Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana and Paramount Records in Chicago began recording up and coming jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke (Tyle). Although the 1920’s and 30’s are considered the “Jazz Age,” the era is sometimes referred to as the “Dance Age” instead. Americans everywhere went crazy for exciting dances such as the Black Bottom, the Jitterbug, and the Charleston. Additionally jazz swing provided, “ the accompaniment for a host of exhilarating new dances: the Big Apple and Little Peach, the Shag and Susy Q, and the dance that had started it all - the Lindy Hop, now called jitterbugging” (Huber). The jazzy music for these dances were often played by 7 or 12 piece orchestras, and whether people heard the music in person or over the radio, the dances brought liveliness to the stressful lives of