Racial Discourse and the Swing Era

            The rise of radio gave swing popularity and moved it into the mainstream. Because of this increased exposure, jazz accumulated more fans and critics. The 1930s were also nicknamed the "Swing Era." 

            It is important to note that although jazz music was receiving more attention, most jazz critics were of white descent. For Duke Ellington, this relationship between jazz musicians and their critics was “laughable” (Lecture 2/14/2013). According to Dr. Stewart, a combination of empathy and criticism (criticality) was missing from the jazz criticism. Jazz magazines increased in number with Down Beat, in particular, considered to have played the biggest role in shaping “critical and popular opinion on jazz” (“Swing Changes” 74). The jazz critics approached the music from a detached point of view, without taking into consideration the economic and other factors the musicians had to take into account. In addition, “Swing Changes” argues that the difficulty in the jazz critics’ task lay in the need to present swing as an “African-American music” (54). Although many critics encouraged integration, racism and segregation were the norm in the 1930s.

            John Hammond is one of the biggest jazz critics of the Swing Era. He made himself the “arbiter of African-American musical authenticity” (“Swing Changes” 52) through consistently getting his critiques published and promoting musicians who grew to become successful and famous, such as Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, and Count Basie. Hammond famously criticized Duke Ellington’s lack of support for black culture, which he attributed to Ellington’s desire of “commercial success” (Lecture 2/14/2013). However, these comments did not faze Ellington, which he shrugged off as “laughable.”

            Because of the left leaning of the white jazz critics, the genre was cemented as a “democratic music” and “product of the people” (“Swing Changes,” 53). Some jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington were suspected of having Communist sympathies, along with the critics who wrote about them in jazz magazines — particularly John Hammond, whom the FBI also investigated. The Communist bond with certain black political and cultural groups against fascism — the Popular Front — also contributed to this image of jazz.

            The combination of radio and jazz magazine publication resulted in explicit racial discourse during the 1930s. In addition, the relationship between the music industry and jazz musicians asked for exoticized “otherness” (“Swing Changes” 124). This is why Hammond accused Ellington for “tolerating racial indignities” — because Ellington agreed to add “jungle” effects to his music in order to appease the music industry.