How Did The Swing Era Impact Society

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The Swing Era Dream The 1920’s through 1940’s were incredibly influential years for America, as this was the first period when the commonwealth could partake in entertainment and leisure activities. Although these years had great impact on all of entertainment,the jazz rebirth of the Swing Era was the dominant cultural overtake in the 20th century. The Swing Era impacted America predominantly through its new found discovery as a social commodity, its reimagination of music, and the effect it had on the people who played it. Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment …show more content…

America was still changing rapidly as African Americans were allowed more and more rights and social justices. During this time in America’s history, racism was still largely found across the nation. It was almost customary for average white people to hold their black counterparts and lower regards. It was very rare for people of mixed races partaking in activities together, let alone creating music. Swing resolved some of these issues, and connected the races. The audience of Swing was also different in the sense that “college-age and high-school-age youth” built up a large majority of the common listeners (Edsford 1). The inclusion of younger aged consumers of Swing music is monumentally important contrasted with swing’s predecessors, where people of this age had no outlet of listening to music of any kind. The later part of the Swing revolution occurred during the first consumer era of America, allowing people of all ages to spend more time doing things they enjoyed, compared to just trying to survive. This brought a new flair to the world and transformed the bleak and monotone life of working all day into a luxuriant …show more content…

Many to this day aspire to be as good of players as the jazz legends of the 20’s and 30’s. Artists would take off in popularity and be known world wide, and often travel to different countries to spread their influence. Some of these jazz players were publicly recognized by such things as “Metronome Magazine” and other such outlets that increased their fame (“Berry Chu.” 2). Players who experienced such things would become huge celebrity icons and would create a large gathering of fans. It was also quintessential that they had this fame increase as every ounce of exposure aided them in the long run. However not all of those who played were as lucky. Some people’s skills with business would have “difficulties” which would limit the “band’s success” (“Berry Chu.” 2). It was not easy being a player or running a band;Ill planned actions would have dire consequences. Band leaders and even the players had to be smart with their money and their opportunities. Frequently many of the jazz players came from different backgrounds, in which they could of done a different profession. Players like Berry Chu, who was a “talented enough college football player”, could have gone through a different and much financially reassuring path (“Berry Chu.” 1). Being a Swing players was a risky endeavor; if you did not attract a large crowd with your playing, you were dead

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