One of the musical highlights of my young life was accepting an invitation to a Philadelphia ball in the early ’70s where I was surprised by the presence of the still active Duke Ellington and his orchestra. At the time, I thought of Ellington as more of a legend than the musical genius he clearly was. I have no recollection of the music he played that evening; indeed, it was not until 1974, the year of Ellington’s death, that I began to gain some familiarity with his music, beginning, oddly enough, with a fascination for Steely Dan’s cover of his 1927 hit “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo”.

         1927 was the breakthrough year for the Duke, so named for his elegant, dignified bearing. Besides releasing his first hit record, Ellington, conducting from the piano, and his 11-piece Orchestra became the house band for Harlem’s famed Cotton Club that catered mostly to a rich all-white clientele. With weekly national radio exposure, he was soon a star, with such hits as “Mood Indigo” (1931) and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (1932); by the mid-’30s he had an international following.

         An accomplished pianist, Ellington is remembered also as a remarkable bandleader who seemed to bring out the best in other musicians. It is, however, as a composer that Duke has reached immortal status, taking his place among the greatest of any genre that America has produced. By the mid-’30s, the acknowledged master of the three-minute jazz piece, Ellington was a visionary who longed to work in long-form classical structures as well.  In 1939 he began collaborating with Billy Strayhorn, a classically trained composer and pianist who worked with the Duke as co-composer, arranger, and fill-in pianist and bandleader until Strayhorn died in 1967.  Today, Ellington is generally categorized as a black jazz composer and musician, but he bristled at such reductionist labeling, preferring to think of himself as one who wrote “American music” for all people.

         -Steve Williams (5/4/23) – Blog Post #7

In late 1977, TV viewers witnessed the odd pairing of a young “Heroes” era David Bowie singing a Christmas duet with the much older Bing Crosby. No doubt, there were younger rock fans puzzled by the old guy who had died a month before the TV special aired. It’s a fact that Crosby’s music today is rarely played (with one notable exception) or celebrated the way, for example, Frank Sinatra’s still is. Yet, Harry “Bing” Crosby was the most popular recording artist of the first half of the 20th century. With over 1600 recordings, it’s doubtful anyone ever made more. Famous for his intimate, easy, conversational crooning style, he learned to take full advantage of a microphone’s ability to pick up and project the subtleties of his voice.

         Not only was Crosby the best-selling recording artist of the ’30s and ’40s, he was also a broadcast giant, heard regularly on radio’s Kraft Music Hall, and a huge star presence in the movies, even claiming a Best Actor Oscar in 1944. Twice Crosby had a hand in saving the record industry, once by pushing for lower retail costs for discs in exchange for artists’ receiving royalties per records sold, and a few years later for helping to pioneer new recording technology with the use of magnetic tape. Though “Pennies from Heaven”, “Swinging on a Star”, and Don’t Fence Me In” (with The Andrews Sisters) were big hits, the song he is most remembered for today is “White Christmas” with its 50 million copies sold, still the best selling single of all-time.                                                 – Steve Williams (5/1/23)

By 1929 the recording industry was a hugely successful business. Jazz was king; but with the advent of the Great Depression people stopped buying records. One estimate says record sales declined by as much as 90% between 1929 and the early ’30s. Still, new technology kept the industry afloat. New microphones developed by RCA greatly enhanced the quality of radio broadcast sound; by the latter years of the 1930s, most households owned a radio where the family would gather to hear comedy, drama, news, and live music entertainment, for free. In addition, jukeboxes became popular, starting in the middle of the decade, and actually stimulated record sales once again as folks wanted to own what they heard in the juke joints.

         Musical styles kept evolving, too. By 1935 swing, a danceable subgenre of jazz, became the most popular form of music and would remain so for a decade. Swing grew out of African American roots – one early pioneer was Fletcher Henderson, for whom Louis Armstrong once played. When Henderson disbanded he went to work as an arranger for Benny Goodman whose 1935 appearance at L.A.’s Palomar Ballroom is often seen as the spark that ignited the swing era. Swing was generally played by Big Bands of 10 or more (sometimes many more) musicians; there were saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section of drums, bass, piano, and sometimes a guitar. Some of the most successful big bands were led by Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the Dorsey Brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, Guy Lombardo, Artie Shaw, Cab Calloway, and Glen Miller.

         Prominent vocalists of the ’30s included The Mills Brothers, who grew out of a barbershop quartet; the swinging Andrews Sisters; early country pioneers, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family; and the biggest selling artist of the decade, “crooner” Bing Crosby.    

                                                               -Steve Williams (4/27/23)