Swing music

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Swing
Stylistic

1920s Jazz

origins

Cultural

1930s United States

origins

Typical
instruments

Derivative

Clarinet, saxophone, trumpet,trombone, piano, double

bass,drums, keyboards,electric guitars, acoustic guitars

New jack swing

forms

Subgenres

Swing revival
(complete list)

Fusion genres

Electro swing

Regional scenes

Western swing

Swing music, or simply swing, is a form of American music that developed in the early 1930s
and became a distinctive style by 1940. Swing uses a strongrhythm section of double bass and
drums as the anchor for a lead section ofbrass instruments such as trumpets and
trombones, woodwinds includingsaxophones and clarinets, and sometimes stringed instruments
such as violinand guitar, medium to fast tempos, and a "lilting" swing time rhythm. The name
swing came from the phrase swing feel where the emphasis is on the offbeat or weaker pulse
in the music. Swing bands usually featured soloistswho would improvise on the melody over the
arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny
Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, a period known
as the Swing Era. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a
strong rhythmic "groove" or drive.

Swing has roots in the late 1920s use of larger ensembles using written arrangements. The
period between 1935 and 1946 is when big band swing music reached its peak and was the most
popular music in America. This period is known as the Swing Era. A typical song played in swing
style would feature a strong, anchoring rhythm section in support of more loosely tied wind, brass.
The most common style consisted of having a soloist take center stage, and improvise a solo
within the framework of his bandmates playing support. Swing music began to decline in
popularity during World War II because of several factors. Most importantly it became difficult to
staff a "big band" because many musicians were overseas fighting in the war. By the late 1940s,
swing had morphed intotraditional pop music, or evolved into new jazz styles such as jump
blues and bebop. Swing music saw a revival in the late 1950s and 1960s with pop vocalists such
as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Nat King Cole, as well as jazz-oriented vocalists like Ella
Fitzgerald.
The best-known bandleaders of the Swing Era were Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Duke
Ellington, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Glenn Miller, and Artie Shaw. The best-known
arrangers included Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Noted wind and brass players included
clarinettists Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw; sax players Coleman Hawkins, Lester
Young,Johnny Hodges, Tex Beneke and Charlie Parker; trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Louis
Prima; and trombonists such asTommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. Notable rhythm
section performers included Jimmy Blanton, Milt Hinton, and Slam Stewarton bass; Lionel
Hampton on marimba; Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Art Tatum on keys; Gene
Krupa andBuddy Rich on drums; Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt on guitar. Some of the
best-known Swing vocalists wereDean Martin and Frank Sinatra.
Swing blended with other genres to create new styles. In country music, artists such as Jimmie
Rodgers, Moon Mullicanand Bob Wills introduced many elements of swing along with blues to
create a genre called western swing. Gypsy swing is an outgrowth of Venuti and Lang's jazz
violin swing. In the 1970s and 1980s, fans of the big band swing music attended swing music
performances at supper clubs. In the late-1980s (into the early 1990s) a trendier, more urbanstyled swing-beat emerged called the new jack swing spearheaded by Teddy Riley. In the late
1990s (1998 until about 2000) there was a short-lived "Swing revival" movement, led by bands
such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, Squirrel Nut
Zippers, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, the Lucky Strikes, Hipster Daddy-O and the
Handgrenades, and Brian Setzer. In Canada, some of the early 2000s records by The JW-Jones
Blues Band included swing revival elements.
Contents
[hide]

1 1920s: origins
2 1930: birth of swing
3 1935-46: the swing era
4 Peak and decline
5 1950s-60s: swingin' pop
6 Cross-genre swing
7 1970s-80s: big band nostalgia
8 Late 1980s and early 2000s: swing revival
9 Early 1990s to present: swing house, electro swing and swing pop
10 Notable musicians
11 See also
12 Notes
13 Further reading

1920s: origins[edit]
The styles of jazz that were popular from the late teens through the late 1920s were usually
played with rhythms with a twobeat feel, and often attempted to reproduce the style

of contrapuntal improvisation developed by the first generation of jazz musicians in New Orleans.
In the late 1920s, however, larger ensembles using written arrangements became the norm, and
a subtle stylistic shift took place in the rhythm, which developed a four beat feel with a smoothly
syncopated style of playing the melody, while the rhythm section supported it with a steady four
to the bar. Many early bassists were unsure what to do with these extra beats, and thus
commonly just played each note twice; this led to the sound of doubled notes as mark for an
authentic swing bass line. [1][verification needed]
As with jazz, swing was created by African Americans, and its impact on the overall American
culture was such that it marked and named an entire era of the United States, the Swing Era as
the 1920s had been termed the Jazz Age. Such an influence from the black community was
unprecedented in any western country. Swing music abandoned the string orchestra and used
simpler, "edgier" arrangements that emphasized horns and wind instruments and improvised
melodies.
Louis Armstrong shared a different version of the history of swing during a nationwide broadcast
of the Bing Crosby (radio) Show.[2] Crosby said, "We have as our guest the master of swing and
I'm going to get him to tell you what swing music is." Armstrong said, "Ah, swing, well, we used to
call it syncopation then they called it ragtime, then blues then jazz. Now, it's swing. White
folks, yo'all sho is a mess."[3][4]

1930: birth of swing[edit]

In comparison with the styles of the 1920s, the 1930s represents a more sophisticated sound, but
with an exciting feel of its own. Most jazz bands adopted this style by the early 1930s, but "sweet"
bands remained the most popular for white dancers until Benny Goodman's appearance at
the Palomar Ballroom in August 1935. Swing's birth has been traced by some jazz historians to
Chick Webb's stand in Harlem in 1931, but they noted the music failed to take off because the
onset of the Depression in earnest that year killed the nightclub business, particularly in poor
black areas like Harlem. Fletcher Henderson, another bandleader from this period who needed
work, lent his arrangement talent to Goodman. Goodman had auditioned and won a spot on a
radio show, "Let's Dance," but only had a few songs; he needed more. Henderson's
arrangements are what gave him his bigger repertoire and distinctive sound. The show was on
after midnight in the East and few people heard it, but unknown to them, it was on earlier on the
West Coast and developed the audience that later led to his Palomar Ballroom triumph. The
audience of young white dancers favored Goodman's rhythms and daring swing arrangements.
"Hot Swing" and Boogie Woogie remained the dominant form of American popular music for the
next ten years. Standards like "Moten Swing" by Bennie Moten and the Kansas City Orchestra
were important in the development of swing music and the move towards a freer form of
orchestral jazz. [5][6][7] Audiences raved at the new music, and at thePearl Theatre in Philadelphia in
December 1932, the doors were let open to the public who came crammed into the theatre to
hear the new sound, demanding seven encores from Moten's orchestra.

1935-46: the swing era[edit]

Benny Goodman, one of the first swing bandleaders to achieve widespread fame.

The period between 1935 and 1946 is when big band swing music reached its peak and was the
most popular music in America. This period is known as the Swing Era. With the wider
acceptance of swing music around 1935, larger mainstream bands began to embrace this style of
music. Up until the swing era, Jazz had been taken in high regard by the most serious musicians
around the world, including classical composers like Stravinsky; swing on the contrary, with its
"dance craze", ended being regarded as a degeneration towards light entertainment, more of an
industry to sell records to the masses than a form of art. Some musicians, after failing at "serious"
music, switched to swing. [8]
In his autobiography W.C. Handy wrote, "This brings to mind the fact that prominent white
orchestra leaders, concert singers and others are making commercial use of Negro music in its
various phases. That's why they introduced "swing" which is not a musical form." [9]
Large orchestras had to reorganize themselves in order to achieve the new sound. These bands
dropped their string instruments, which were now felt to hamper the improvised style necessary
for swing music. This necessitated a slightly more detailed and organized type
of composition and notation than was then the norm. Band leaders put more energy into
developing arrangements, perhaps reducing the chaos that might result from as many as 12 or
16 musicians spontaneously improvising. But the best swing bands at the height of the era
explored the full gamut of possibilities from spontaneous ensemble playing to highly orchestrated
music in the vein of European art music.
A typical song played in swing style would feature a strong, anchoring rhythm section in support
of more loosely tied wind,brass. During the swing era, string and/or vocals sections were also
common. The level of improvisation that the audience might expect at any one time varied
depending on the arrangement, the band, the song, and the band-leader.
The most common style consisted of having a soloist take center stage, and improvise a solo
within the framework of his bandmates playing support. As a song progressed, multiple soloists
would be expected to take over and individually improvise their own part; however, it was not
unusual to have two or three band members improvising at any one time.
Many of the songs during the swing era were selections from the Great American Songbook. The
music of the swing era is often regarded as one of the most influential precursors to traditional
pop music, as it helped popularize many American "standards."[10]

Peak and decline[edit]

Frank Sinatra

Swing jazz began to be embraced by the public around 1935. Prior to that, it had had limited
acceptance, mostly among black audiences. Radio remotes increased interest in the music, and it
grew in popularity throughout the States. As with many new popular musical styles, it met with
some resistance from the public because of its improvisation, fast erratic tempos, lack of strings,
occasionally risqu lyrics and other cultural associations, such as the sometimes frenetic swing

dancing that accompanied performances. Audiences who had become used to the romantic
arrangements (and what was perceived as classier and more refined music), were taken aback
by the often erratic and edginess of swing music.
German swing bands were virtually unknown to British and American fans, but thrived in the early
1940s in spite of an official Nazi campaign against "decadent Western music". [11]German
authorities in fact created a Swing band called "Charlie and His Orchestra" to record hot Swing
and dance music. Some songs included lyrics ridiculing and abusing the leaders and people of
Allied nations. Records were dropped over "enemy" lines by parachute. [12]
In the US, by the late 1930s and early 1940s, swing had become the most popular musical style
and remained so for several years, until it was supplanted in the late 1940s by the pop
standards sung by the crooners who grew out of the Big Band tradition that swing began.
Bandleaders such as the Dorsey Brothers often helped launch the careers of vocalists who went
on to popularity as solo artists, such as Frank Sinatra.
Swing music began to decline in popularity during World War II because of several factors. Most
importantly it became difficult to staff a "big band" because many musicians were overseas
fighting in the war. Also, the cost of touring with a large ensemble became cumbersome because
of wartime economics. These two factors made smaller three- to five-piece combos more
profitable and manageable. A third reason is the recording bans of 1942 and 1948 because of
musicians' union strikes. In 1948, there were no records legally made at all, although independent
labels continued to bootleg records in small numbers. When the ban was over in January 1949,
swing had morphed into traditional pop music, or evolved into new jazz styles such as jump
blues and bebop. This was much to the chagrin of artists such as Benny Goodman: "Bop. To me
it's a circus. For all I know those guys might think they're playing soulful music. Basically, it's all
wrong. Not even knowing the scales." [13]

1950s-60s: swingin' pop[edit]

Swing music saw a sort of a revival in the late 1950s and 1960s. Today, this music is sometimes
referred to as easy listening. It was, in essence, an updated form of the big band swing music that
had been popular in the 1930s and 1940s. This music, however, emphasized the vocalist more so
than the instrumentation. Like the music of the Swing Era, many of these songs were also
selections from the Great American Songbook.
This brand of music was made popular by arrangers such as Nelson Riddle and pop vocalists
such as Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Matt Monro, Judy Garland, and Nat King Cole,
as well as jazz-oriented vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald andKeely Smith. Many of these singers were
also involved in the "less swinging" vocal pop music of this period.
By the late 1960s, this form of swing had largely faded, replaced by the contemporary forms of
rock music.

Cross-genre swing[edit]

Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli

Many of the crooners who came to the fore after the swing era had their origins in swing bands.
Frank Sinatra used the swing-band approach to great effect in almost all of his recordings and
kept this style of music popular well into the rock 'n' roll era.
In country music, artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican and Bob Willsintroduced many
elements of swing along with blues to create a genre calledwestern swing. Like Sinatra did,
Mullican went solo from the Cliff Bruner band and had a successful solo career that included
many songs that maintained a swing structure. Artists like Willie Nelson have kept the swing
elements of country music present into the rock 'n' roll era. Nat King Cole followed Sinatra into the
pop music world bringing with him a similar combination of swing bands and ballads. Like
Mullican, he was important in bringing piano to the fore of popular music.
Gypsy swing is an outgrowth of Venuti and Lang's jazz violin swing, the style emerging in its own
right in Europe with Django Reinhardt and Stphane Grappelli. The repertoire overlaps that of
1930s swing, including French popular music, gypsy songs, and compositions by Reinhardt,
but gypsy swing bands are formulated differently. There is no brass or percussion; guitars and
bass form the backbone, with violin, accordion, clarinet or guitar taking the lead. Gypsy swing
groups generally have no more than five players. Although they originated in different continents,
similarities have often been noted between gypsy swing and western swing, leading to various
fusions.
Rock 'n' roll era hitmakers like Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Gene
Vincent and Elvis Presley also found time to include many swing-era standards into their
repertoire. Presley's hit "Are You Lonesome Tonight" is an old swing standard and Lewis' "To
Make Love Sweeter For You" is a new song but in the old style. Domino made the swing standard
"My Blue Heaven" a rock 'n' roll hit. Among the critically acclaimed band leaders of the 1930s and
1940s whose performances included elements of both "Sweet Band" music and traditional swing
music was Shep Fields.

1970s-80s: big band nostalgia[edit]

Though swing music was no longer a mainstream musical style at this point, fans of the big band
swing music of the Swing Era were able to attend swing music performances at supper
clubs throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These were known as "big band nostalgia" tours. They
featured some of the famous bandleaders and vocalists of the swing era who were now,
essentially, in semi-retirement. Notable individuals who participated in these tours included
bandleader Harry James and vocalist Dick Haymes, as well as many notable musicians whom
had been popular in the 1940s.[14]

Late 1980s and early 2000s: swing revival[edit]

Main article: Swing revival
In the late-1980s (into the early 1990s) a trendier, more urban-styled swing-beat emerged called
the new jack swingspearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle the fusion genre became
popular form by using the hip-hop "swing" beatscreated by the drum machine,
and hardware samples, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive
Black New York club scene during the golden age of hip hop, with contemporary
R&Bstyle singing. " Encyclopdia Britannica states that the "key producers"
were Babyface and Teddy Riley.
In the late 1990s (1998 until about 2000) there was a short-lived "Swing revival" movement, led
by bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, Squirrel
Nut Zippers, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, the Lucky Strikes, Hipster Daddy-O and
the Handgrenades, and Brian Setzer. Many of the new bands of this period played a style of
music often referred to as neo-swing that combined swing jazz with contemporary
styles of music such as Rockabilly, Ska, and Rock music. The style also accelerated the revival

of swing dancing, both in a traditional style, and in hybrid approaches which blended 1930s
dancing with 2000-era dance styles.
In 2001 Robbie Williams released his fifth studio album consisting mainly of popular swing covers
titled "Swing When You're Winning" which proved to be popular in many countries selling more
than 7 million copies worldwide.
In 2006, the singer Christina Aguilera released her studio album "Back to Basics" when she
mixed several different styles including swing, jazz and blues. The album was another
commercial success for Aguilera's career.
In recent years Swing music has become fairly popular in Germany. Singers Roger Cicero, Tom
Gaebel, and Thomas Anders have attained large followings both in their native country and world
wide. Ciceros style is predominantly that of 1940s and 1950s swing music, combined with
German lyrics; he became Germany's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. [15]

Early 1990s to present: swing house, electro swing and

swing pop[edit]
Another modern development consists of fusing swing (original, or remixes of classics) with hip
hop and house techniques.
"Swing house" was particularly popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Influences
incorporated into it include Louis Jordan and Louis Prima.
Electro swing is mainly popular in Europe, and electro swing artists incorporate influences such
as Tango and Django Reinhardt's Gypsy Swing. Leading artists include Caravan
Palace and Parov Stelar.
Both genres are connected with a revival of swing dances, such as the Lindy hop.
In November 2013, Robbie Williams released another swing album, Swings Both Ways, including
a series of covers and other new songs which used a music style mixing swing and pop. The
album became quite famous, having sold a total of 1.5 million copies worldwide as of January
2014, and reaching number one in music lists in five different countries.

Notable musicians[edit]

Band leaders: Count Basie, Charlie Barnet, Les Brown, Cab Calloway, Jimmy
Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington,Benny Goodman, Glen Gray, Erskine
Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman, Tiny Hill, Earl Hines, Harry James,Louis
Jordan, Hal Kemp, Gene Krupa, Kay Kyser, Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, Red
Norvo, Gloria Parker, Louis Prima, Buddy Rich, Fred Rich, Artie Shaw, Charlie Spivak, Chick
Webb, Kurt Widmann
Arrangers: Van Alexander, Ralph Burns, Toots Camarata, Benny Carter, Buck
Clayton, Ray Conniff, Eddie Durham,Duke Ellington, Bill Finegan, Jerry Gray, Bob
Haggart, Buster Harding, Lennie Hayton, Neal Hefti, Fletcher Henderson,Horace
Henderson, Gordon Jenkins, Billy May, Jimmy Mundy, Sy Oliver, Nat Pierce, Johnny
Richards, Edgar Sampson,Eddie Sauter, Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, Michel Legrand
Clarinet: Buster Bailey, Barney Bigard, Kenny Davern, Buddy DeFranco, Benny
Goodman, Edmond Hall, Jimmy Hamilton, Woody Herman, Peanuts Hucko, Ken
Peplowski, Russell Procope, Artie Shaw, Bob Wilber
Saxophone: Harry Allen (tenor), Georgie Auld (tenor), Charlie Barnet (tenor, alto and
soprano), Tex Beneke (tenor),Chu Berry (tenor), Sam Butera (tenor), Ernie
Caceres (baritone), Benny Carter (alto and trumpet), Arnett Cobb (tenor),Eddie "Lockjaw"
Davis (tenor), Herschel Evans (tenor), Jimmy Dorsey (alto and clarinet), Frank
Foster (tenor), Bud Freeman (tenor), Paul Gonsalves (tenor), Glen Gray (alto), Scott
Hamilton (tenor), Otto Hardwick (alto), Coleman Hawkins (tenor), Johnny Hodges (alto and
soprano), Illinois Jacquet (tenor), Louis Jordan (alto and tenor), Al Klink(tenor), Eddie

Miller (tenor), Vido Musso (tenor and clarinet), Charlie Parker (alto; also
a bebop pioneer), Tony Pastor(tenor), Flip Phillips (tenor), Russell Procope (alto and
clarinet), Zoot Sims (tenor and soprano), Willie Smith (alto),Buddy Tate (tenor), Lucky
Thompson (tenor), Earle Warren (alto), Ben Webster (tenor), Frank Wess (alto, tenor and
flute), Lester Young (tenor)
Trumpet: Cat Anderson, Louis Armstrong (cornet on early recordings), Bunny
Berigan, Ruby Braff (and cornet), Billy Butterfield, Doc Cheatham, Buck Clayton, Bill
Coleman, Harry Edison, Roy Eldridge, Ziggy Elman, Bobby Hackett (and cornet), Harry
James, Jonah Jones, Hot Lips Page, Louis Prima, Ray Nance (and violin), Charlie
Shavers, Charlie Spivak, Rex Stewart (cornet), Clark Terry (and fluegelhorn), Doc
Severinsen, Warren Vach, Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie (also a bebop pioneer)
Trombone: Dan Barrett, Will Bradley, Lawrence Brown, Cutty Cutshall, Vic
Dickenson, Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Durham,J. C. Higginbotham, Jack Jenney, Glenn
Miller, Fred Rich, Jack Teagarden, Juan Tizol, Dicky Wells, Trummy Young
Piano: Count Basie (and organ), Milt Buckner (and organ), John Bunch, Joe Bushkin, Nat
King Cole, Duke Ellington,Slim Gaillard, Johnny Guarnieri, Fletcher Henderson, Earl
Hines, Dick Hyman, Hank Jones, Nat Jaffe, Billy Kile, Dave McKenna, Marian
McPartland, Jay McShann, Jelly Roll Morton, Oscar Peterson, Nat Pierce, Mel
Powell, Sammy Price,Jess Stacy, Joe Sullivan, Ralph Sutton, Art Tatum, Johnny Varro, Fats
Waller (and organ), Dick Wellstood, Teddy Wilson, Mary Lou Williams, Bob Zurke
Guitar: Howard Alden, Oscar Aleman, Irving Ashby, Bucky Pizzarelli, Al Casey, James
Chirillo, Charlie Christian, Eddie Condon, Dick McDonough, Eddie Durham, Chris Flory, Herb
Ellis, Slim Gaillard, Freddie Green, Marty Grosz, Barney Kessel, Carl Kress, Birli
Lagrne, Nappy Lamare, Eddie Lang, Carmen Mastren, Oscar Moore, Django
Reinhardt, Allan Reuss, Duke Robillard, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Brian Setzer, Frank
Vignola
Bass: Artie Bernstein, Jimmy Blanton, Bob Haggart, Milt Hinton, John Kirby, Walter
Page, Slam Stewart
Drums: Sid Catlett, Sonny Greer, Jo Jones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Chick Webb
Vibraphone: Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo
Marimba: Gloria Parker
Violin: Svend Asmussen, Stephane Grapelli, Ray Nance, Eddie South, Joe
Venuti, Helmut Zacharias
Accordion: Art Van Damme, John Serry Sr.
Vocal: Martha Tilton, Bea Wain, Bob Eberly, Ray Eberle, Dean Martin, Dick
Haymes, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr.,Tony Bennett, Tex Beneke, Helen Ward, Helen
Forrest, Helen O'Connell, Marion Hutton, Kitty Kallen, The Andrews Sisters, Michael
Bubl, Seth MacFarlane, Robbie Williams, etc.