Radio
and Increasing Racial Tension in the 1930s
The
interaction and conflict between Blacks and Whites has always been an important
topic in the development of jazz. The
racial tension is evident in a number of aspects of the music’s history, from
the appropriation of jazz from African Americans by white bands such as the
Original Dixieland Jazz Band to the numerous locales, such as the Cotton Club
in Harlem, where Black bands like Duke Ellington’s performed for all-White
audiences. If race was not explicitly
discussed in connection with jazz before the Swing Era, it was not because the
topic was irrelevant; only a spark, some event that either aggravated the
problems originating from the racial conflict in jazz or brought the music into
the view of the general public, was needed to ignite debate over the topic, and
the advent of the radio, along with the Great Depression, served to do just
that.
The
advent of the radio had a wide variety of effects on the jazz industry, perhaps
the most noteworthy of which was turning jazz into an industry. The
radio allowed artists to appeal to audiences that were otherwise unreachable;
for example, Benny Goodman’s performances on the show “Let’s Dance” allowed him
to gain popularity in California, leading to his favorable reception at the
Palomar concert of 1935 (Gioia, 132).
These new audiences created a high demand for swing music, which allowed
certain jazz musicians to prosper, and doubtlessly encouraged many others to
imitate them in the hopes of achieving similar success. This prospect of success, paired with the
Great Depression, which left many unemployed and desperately searching for
opportunity in any form, led to the formation of many jazz bands, both black
and white.
However, the same
factors that led to the creation of more jazz bands also made it difficult for
many to survive; the Great Depression limited the disposable income of would-be
listeners, and the increased demand for jazz practically required bandleaders
to make deals with agents to survive (Swing
Changes, 103), and those that did not were practically doomed to
failure. The agencies played a large
role in making race a prominent issue in jazz in a number of ways. For one, it could be said that they embodied
the exploitative relationship between Whites and Blacks, as the agents made
significant profits off of the talent of the musicians. Additionally, the agents “served as
gatekeepers of the venues and media that enabled swing to become a national
phenomenon” (Swing Changes, 103), and
as such had nearly complete control over what bands were heard by the
public. This in itself would not
necessarily signify the racial tension present in jazz; however, when the
industry became “glutted with more bands than the industry could possibly
sustain, blacks were the first to be pushed out” (Swing Changes, 122). Because
white bands “were more readily accepted by mainstream America” (Gioia, 133),
the agencies chose to promote them over black bands, allowing white musicians
to thrive playing black music and forcing many black bands to disband. Two of the most successful bandleaders of
this era also highlight the racial tension in jazz: Duke Ellington, who was
accused by many, such as John Hammond, of “[shutting] his eyes to the abuses
being heaped upon his race” (Swing Changes,
51) in order to allow his band to survive, and Benny Goodman, the so-called “King
of Swing”, who became ludicrously popular by heading a white band playing black
music.
The main sources of
racial tension in jazz – namely, the limited potential for success of black
artists due to segregation and prejudice, and the contrasting popularity of
white imitators – were present long before the Swing Era; however, the
nationalization of the music via radio and the consequences of that spread
aggravated these problems and brought them to the attention of the general
public, and thus, as the music spread like wildfire, it sparked explicit
discussion of race.
