THE SWING ERA: The Development o f Jazz, 1933-1945

by Gunther Schuller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 1988

Vol. II of Schuller's in-depth history of jazz (after Early Jazz, 1968). Early Jazz cut off at 1933, and covered an era that Schuller characterized as an age of restless curiosity in music. The volume at hand takes jazz up to the end of WW II, a period that saw the ""establishment in jazz of a system of order, a sense of unity . . .resting on the foundations laid in the late 1920's."" Thus, while ""the swing era"" is often viewed as standing alone as a particular expression of American culture--via the music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, etc., all chronicled here--Schuller resists the temptation to isolate that era from both its antecedents and its heirs. An underlying theme here is the extent to which ""swing"" contained the germ of its own demise. While, as Schuller writes, ""the greatness of jazz lies in the fact that it never ceases to develop and change,"" too many proponents of ""swing"" (represented by the average dance band of the period) concerned themselves with their own self-perpetuation: ""It became in far too many instances a static music that never looked outside or beyond itself. Anxious only to hold onto its own order and stability, it was bound to petrify."" Bursting with detail, but preachy and opinionated. For the flavor of jazz, best to turn to the literate writings of Gene Lees (Singers and the Song, 1987). Schuller, incidentally, promises a third volume, covering post-WW II ""modern jazz.

Pub Date: Feb. 2, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION