The Fall of Big Band

The Fall of Big Band

This week I would like to talk about a pivotal moment of the swing era, its fall from popularity.

As we discussed in class the great depression was the general begging of the swing era and the general end was around the end of WWII. Several factors,  however contributed to this fall from grace. First of which being the conditions that the road and touring brought to the players themselves. With segregation rampant in almost all parts of the country and since many major bands were black or integrated, many players faced deplorable conditions on while on the road. Lodging was sketchy at best, food was sparse and rarely good, and money was hard to come by. Only the top soloists and band leaders were generally given good conditions to live in. This poor treatment caused a lot of players to give up and strike out for home.

Another of the major factors that lead to the fall of big band were the players themselves. Fights and discord were quite common in bands. Part of it stemmed from differences in playing styles. Women and money were also two common things that would drive tension between the players of a group. Drugs was a huge factor, though in fights between players. Many jazz musicians were regular users or addicts of illegal narcotics, anything from marijuana to heroin or cocaine. The addictions, just like any family that suffers with addict, were ultimately driven apart.

The last major factor leading to the downfall of big band music was simply the evolution of music. It is human nature to not want things to be the same for too long. We are creatures of habit, but more importantly creatures of change. Players began to stretch the boundaries of jazz and think more cerebrally about what it was that they were playing, and the fans began to love it as well. Big Band or Swing was all about a beat and style you could get up and dance to, but bebop, the slayer of Swing, was a style that you sat and listened to.

Critical Listening

Dinah

Django Rinehardt

http://youtu.be/fIEogxRZxwo

32 bar AABA

Small ensemble

All string

Django on lead guitar

Amazing Violin solo halfway through song