From jazz to swing
Subtitle: African-American jazz musicians and their music, 1890-1935
By: Thomas J. Hennessey.
Series: Jazz history, culture, and criticism series
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Detroit
Language: eng
Number of pages: 217
Subjects: Jazz -- History and criticism.; African American musicians.; African American jazz musicians.
Description: Black jazz musicians transformed their art - a series of regional musics - into America's most popular music. From Jazz to Swing examines the historical context of jazz within the changing situation of the African-American community and notes the tensions created by the structures of segregation, stereotypes, and prejudice.

Making use of the files of African-American newspapers, such as the Chicago Defender, as well as published and archival oral history interviews, Thomas Hennessey explores the contradictions that musicians often faced as African Americans, as trained professional musicians, and as the products of differing regional experiences.

From Jazz to Swing follows jazz from its beginnings in the regional black musics of the turn of the century in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, and the territories that make up the rest of the country. Superstars of jazz such as Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and Duke Ellington come to life, as do James Reese Europe, King Oliver, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and others.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-206) and index.