The Jazz Age

The Jazz Age facts and timeline

• The most famous book based on the Jazz Age is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby - it was actually Fitzgerald that popularised the term 'Jazz Age'.
• Jazz became more popular when white jazz musicians emerged, despite it being rooted in African American culture.
• A key part of jazz is improvisation.

Popularisation of jazz in the 1920s

So what exactly led to this popularisation of jazz? What was special about the 1920s?

The Great Migration

The Great Migration began around 1915 and was a mass migration of African Americans from the rural South to escape oppression. Many of them moved to northern cities. This influx of African Americans was crucial to the emergence of the Jazz Age – jazz has its roots in African American culture and the New Orleans area of Louisiana in particular.Many jazz musicians emigrated directly from New Orleans to the northern states, including the famous Louis Armstrong. Although he is said to have followed his musical mentor, he represents the cultural impact of African American migration.African Americans brought jazz with them, took advantage of the freedoms they enjoyed in the North compared to the South and participated in the party culture.

Fig. 1: African American women in Harlem in 1925.

The Roaring Twenties

The economic boom of the 1920s provided many Americans with the financial security they had not experienced before. This security led to a period of increased consumerism and increased involvement in social activities and events.

Radio became increasingly popular as an entertainment medium in the 1920s, exposing more Americans to jazz music. In addition, expendable income combined with the availability of Model T Ford cars in the 1920s meant that many families owned a car, giving young people more freedom to drive to parties and social events where jazz was played. Average Americans danced the ‘Charleston’ and the ‘Black Bottom’ to their favourite jazz song.

Jazz recording

One of the main reasons jazz music could transcend the limitations of African American music was the advent of mass recording on the radio. In its original and African American form, jazz was limited to more ‘urban’ radio stations. However, radio stations began to expand their reach in the Jazz Age, catapulting this art form into the mainstream.In the 1920s, radio stations began to play African American jazz nationwide, and as more and more Americans owned radios, this ‘new’ style took over America.

The Roaring Twenties

The economic boom of the 1920s provided many Americans with the financial security they had not experienced before. This security led to a period of increased consumerism and increased involvement in social activities and events.

Radio became increasingly popular as an entertainment medium in the 1920s, exposing more Americans to jazz music. In addition, expendable income combined with the availability of Model T Ford cars in the 1920s meant that many families owned a car, giving young people more freedom to drive to parties and social events where jazz was played. Average Americans danced the ‘Charleston’ and the ‘Black Bottom’ to their favourite jazz song.

Jazz recording

One of the main reasons jazz music could transcend the limitations of African American music was the advent of mass recording on the radio. In its original and African American form, jazz was limited to more ‘urban’ radio stations. However, radio stations began to expand their reach in the Jazz Age, catapulting this art form into the mainstream.In the 1920s, radio stations began to play African American jazz nationwide, and as more and more Americans owned radios, this ‘new’ style took over America.

Social life in the Jazz Age

As we have noted, the Jazz Age was not just about the music, but about American culture in general. So what would it have been like to live in America during the Jazz Age?

Prohibition

The Jazz Age coincided with the ‘Period of Prohibition’ between 1920 and 1933, when it was illegal to make or sell alcohol.

Hang on, didn’t we say the Jazz Age was a time of partying and drinking?Well, Prohibition was extremely unsuccessful because it simply drove the alcohol industry underground. There were more and more clandestine bars called ‘speakeasies’. In the 1920s, alcohol consumption did not decrease, but there was more partying and drinking. In these secret bars, it was common to play jazz music, and so this can also be seen as a reason for the popularisation of jazz.

Fig. 2: New York City Deputy Police Commissioner watching agents pour liquor, during the height of prohibition

Women in the Jazz Age

This era also saw the most surprising and progressive development of women’s role in society. Although women were excluded from economic and political advancements, they were granted an increasingly important role in society and entertainment in the Jazz Age.

The Jazz Age saw the rise of the ‘flappers’ – young American women who participated in acts considered untraditional and unfeminine. Flappers drank, smoked, partied, dared to dance, and engaged in other typically masculine activities.

The flappers represented a wave of independence and defied the traditional role of women. They were characterised mainly by their extravagant and provocative dressing style.

This era also gave some African American women a small place in the jazz music industry, such as Bessie Smith. However, the role of women was still largely limited to popularising dances and appealing to the men of the era.

Fig. 3: A ‘flapper’ from the 1920s, George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress

Jazz greats

Although the radio era was largely devoted to white jazz artists, those considered jazz greats are predominantly African American. In a time of continued racial inequality, this speaks to the progressive nature of the era and the tremendous impact these musicians had on African American progress.

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington was a New York-based jazz composer and pianist who led a jazz orchestra beginning in 1923. Ellington conducted the orchestra, which many historians and musicians consider the finest jazz orchestra ever formed. Ellington is considered a revolutionary in jazz composition, and his musical leadership and talent undeniably played a crucial role in the Jazz Age.

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans and became famous for playing the trumpet. Armstrong is considered influential in the development of jazz through his groundbreaking solo performances as opposed to collective performances. Armstrong moved to Chicago in 1922, where his fame grew and his talents entered into the urban jazz era.

Harlem Renaissance

The Jazz Age also coincided with the Harlem Renaissance, when African American art, culture, literature, poetry, and music flourished. It began in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York City, and jazz music played a major role in this cultural movement. Duke Ellington is one of the great representatives of the Harlem Renaissance.

What was the cultural impact of the Jazz Age?

With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the extravagance of the Jazz Age ended, although the music remained popular. By the end of the 1920s, American society had changed, thanks in no small part to jazz.This era redefined the role of African Americans. African Americans could gain a foothold in the entertainment industry and achieve wealth and prestige. African Americans were allowed to mingle with white Americans and had access to the same cultural spaces as their white counterparts. This was relatively unprecedented, especially considering that African Americans who had recently arrived from the South were subject to segregation under Jim Crow laws.

Although racial discrimination persisted and America still had a long way to go before achieving racial equality, opportunities opened up for African Americans they would never have realised had they remained in the South.Women also saw their role change. Although it was not institutional, the Jazz Age represented a cultural shift that allowed women to be more expressive and penetrate traditionally male areas.