Jazz vs White Supremacy

            In the 1920’s New York played a more important role in the development of Jazz music than any other city including Chicago and New Orleans.  New York was a center of American culture in the 1920s and was essential to the transition of jazz into the modern light.  New York was a popular destination for many blacks as the Great Migration continued to disseminate black culture around the nation.  Economically, New York was a prospering city that presented opportunities for talented musicians that were unmatched anywhere else in the world.  Though the black community was alive and well in Harlem and other parts of New York, racial barriers still existed and created continued tension that was carried into the nightclubs and dance halls of the 1920s and 30s.  These racial barriers however, contributed to a new and developing relationship between the musician and the patron that were essential in the progression of the jazz community.

            Though Chicago served as a place of rebirth for many blacks escaping the South, and was home to a large jazz scene, many musicians continued on to New York because it provided more opportunity for the advancing black musician of the 1920s. The art of jazz music was a fundamental part of the New York and helped shape the social dynamic of the community.  Jazz and New York shared a symbiotic relationship and influenced one another profoundly.  The “heterogeneous and multicultural community engendered a modern art,” similarly to how the multicultural influences in New Orleans helped produce the first jazz music (Lecture 2/3/15).  In the 1920’s and 30’s the Great Migration brought an influx of blacks from New Orleans to Chicago, and then onward to New York. “The New Orleans notion of jazz had been implanted” as the migrating musicians began to settle (Henderson 101). 

            Because of New York’s presence in the entertainment world, many new opportunities were available to those who could establish a popular reputation. The audiences on Broadway fueled the development of jazz, as musicians began to prosper economically and socially.  A new job as “Big Band” CEO/manager emerged in New York during the 1920s, highlighted by Fletcher Henderson, a black entrepreneur in the music industry.  These new band formations, which featured 20-30 people, were extremely popular and well received.  As the style of jazz began to shift, New York provided a platform for ‘performative’ jazz to take-off.  Jazz orchestras, which often played behind a group of white dancers, became mainstreamed in New York, and the music industry, which was largely occupied by black musicians, prospered.

            Though blacks had many more opportunities to coincide with white society while performing and living in New York, there was still the notion of blacks as workers serving the white patrons.  The racial structures of the clubs and music halls where shows were performed created tension when once again, black musicians and entrepreneurs like Henderson were limited by the racial circumstances.  Jazz, however, played a very interesting roll in the racial dynamic of New York.  Jazz music built a community of musicians and listeners that welcomed anyone.  Black musicians welcomed people with open arms, even though they weren’t welcome in many other communities.  The art created a community, and helped break down the racial barrier that many people had between black and white.

            Due to the economic advantages, the most talented musicians from around the world were pulled to New York’s prestigious ‘Broadway,’ including Louis Armstrong, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Fats Waller, and Duke Ellington.  Louis Armstrong is arguably the most influential of the group, and was brought to New York by Fletcher Henderson in 1924.  Armstrong, who was no longer the second trumpet to King Oliver and was able to perfect his own style and sound.  Armstrong’s unique skills changed the sound of Jazz in New York.  He brought the aspect of “swing,” to the music as his trumpet drove the direction of each track.  Many black jazz listeners in New York wanted to be reminded of their Southern roots which Armstrong and other musicians were able to provide with the ragtime flare that often accompanied their music.  These cultural roots, combined with the New York influences created a jazz that was unique to anywhere else in the world.  Big players like Armstrong and Waller were two of the most influential in coining this sound.  In addition to these musicians, many groups emerged such as The Hot Chocolates.  This group best personified New York jazz due to their ability to use the stage beyond their instruments.  New York jazz was more than just the music.  It enveloped song, dance, tapping, etc… which came together to provide a visual narrative of blacks experiences. 

            The Great Migration of blacks from New Orleans and Chicago onward to New York was essential to the progression of jazz music.  Harlem provided a new home for blacks who wanted more opportunity both socially and economically.  The economic opportunities of Broadway, New York extended the outlook for these musicians to escape from the racial boundaries of 1920’s society.  Finally, the power of music began to show its effects as jazz patrons began to show signs of respect to the black musicians, hinting at the possible shift in cultural stigmatism that persisted.  These social, economic and racial influences, all changed jazz as it developed in New York.  Famous musicians became celebrities and communities were formed by the unifying powers of the art of jazz.  Observers of jazz can notice its unique ability to challenge the white superiority, while it purposed as a vehicle for these musicians to test the remaining racial resistance that loomed over the United States in the mid 1900s.