Swing Music Guide: 7 Notable Swing Musicians

Swing music is a style of jazz that was performed primarily by the big bands of the 1930s and 1940s. It was the popular dance music at the time, marked by methodical improvisation, quick tempos, and a sound that was often described as rambunctious. Many jazz musicians and the dance venues where they played enjoyed a surge of popularity and success before the inevitable decline of the era following World War II, but many swing musicians had a lasting impact on the direction of jazz and popular music.

Here is a brief overview of the history of swing music.

• Origins in the early 1920s: The big band movement of the 1920s paved the way for swing music. One of the first popular big bands was the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, a New York-based band that employed musicians like trumpeter Louis Armstrong and saxophone players Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins. Henderson was a gifted arranger who essentially established the formula for swing music, breaking the band down into sections and figuring out how each part flows with and complements the other.
• Late 1920s: By the late 1920s, big bands in the style of Henderson’s orchestra would take the country by storm. In 1927, trumpeter Duke Ellington and his orchestra became the house band at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where the band’s sets were regularly broadcast on the radio. These broadcasts also gave exposure to others like Cab Calloway and Jimmie Lunceford’s orchestras and increased the wider public’s exposure to big band swing music. Just a year later, Earl Hines had his own music playing throughout the midwest from Chicago’s Grand Terrace Cafe.
• Heyday during the Great Depression: As the United States reeled from the Great Depression in the 1930s, swing music became increasingly popular. Led by bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Chick Webb, swing dance bands thrived throughout the 1930s, inspiring new popular swing dances like the jitterbug and the Lindy Hop.
• Airplay in the 1940s: In the 1940s, swing music dominated the radio airwaves. Popular vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra brought a new element to the jazz orchestra sound. By the late 1940s, however, the swing era was coming to a close. New York musicians and bandleaders like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie pivoted from the standard swing sound to develop a new style of complex jazz called bebop.

Swing music is one of the most recognizable styles of jazz music. Some key elements of swing music include:

1. 1. Danceable: Swing music was the quintessential dance music of the 1930s and 1940s, known for its quick pace and high energy. People turned to swing music as a feel-good fix in the midst of the Great Depression. The upbeat tempo of swing music made it the ideal dance groove, and a number of different dances—like the jitterbug, Lindy hop, and boogie-woogie—emerged during this time to accompany the jumpiness of swing.
2. 2. Call-and-response riffs: Swing music is often anchored by a rhythm section of piano, drums, and bass, with the accompanying brass and woodwind sections playing in call-and-response. Call-and-response is a compositional technique that works similarly to a conversation. A “phrase” of music serves as the “call,” and is “answered” by a different phrase of music. These phrases can be either vocal, instrumental, or both.
3. 3. Uses formal arrangements: Unlike the group improvisation found in traditional jazz, swing musicians in a big band stick to a strict composition and arrangement. Soloists often improvised over the band with their own melodies, although bandleaders would typically notate the parts they liked and include them in the composition.

Despite its somewhat brief heyday, the swing era would both become a vehicle for contemporary jazz musicians to achieve popular notoriety, as well as find their own personal stylings. Some notable swing artists include:

1. 1. Louis Armstrong: Considered one of the earliest pioneers of swing music, Armstrong was known for his innovative style and syncopations, bringing his “swinging”’ riffs to his compositions and performances. Armstrong’s energetic yet rhythmic style would be a strong influence on musicians for generations to come.
2. 2. Cab Calloway: Vocalist and bandleader Cab Calloway led one of the most popular bands of the swing music era, often performing as a vocalist along with his band. He was considered a master of scat-singing, which became a popular style of vocals in the era. Calloway was also the first African American musician to have a nationally syndicated radio show, and to sell over one million records.
3. 3. Count Basie: As a young man, Count Basie played piano on a vaudeville circuit until getting stranded in Kansas City in the mid-1920s. There, he built a jazz orchestra with local musicians. Count Basie became known for his minimalist piano style and charismatic leadership. Many of his compositions, like “One O’Clock Jump” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” became quintessential swing era songs.
4. 4. Duke Ellington.:A prodigious piano player, Duke Ellington composed hundreds of songs, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and “Caravan.” Born in 1899 and inspired by ragtime pianists, Duke Ellington became one of the most influential bandleaders of the twentieth century, leading his jazz orchestra for over 50 years.
5. 5. Benny Goodman: On August 21, 1935, Benny Goodman’s jazz orchestra put on a concert in Los Angeles that inspired an excited crowd to break out into dance. After that show, Benny Goodman’s reputation spread across the country, earning him the title of “The King of Swing.” A dedicated clarinet player and infamous perfectionist, Benny Goodman hired talented musicians who would one day go on to start their own orchestras, including Harry James and Woody Herman.
6. 6. Glenn Miller: After starting his career as a trombonist for Ben Pollack’s Chicago-based orchestra in the 1920s, Glenn Miller went on to become one of the most famous big band leaders of his generation. An innovative composer and arranger, Glenn Miller wrote several hit songs, including “Moonlight Serenade” and “In The Mood.”
7. 7. Bennie Moten: Moten was a jazz pianist and bandleader of the Kansas City Orchestra. He derived much of his inspiration from Fletcher Henderson, and often composed songs featuring a stomp beat (the popular Kansas City style at the time). One of his compositions, “Moten’s Swing,” was key in the development of swing music.

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