Blog 2 - Chicago or New York?

By 1925, New York eclipsed Chicago in terms of the Arts. New York was the more important city to the growth of jazz because of the larger capitalization and the bigger audience. In 1900, 60,000 blacks lived in New York, and by 1920 that number went up to 150,000, clearly illustrating the great migration or diaspora it attracted to itself. It became the major sanctuary for black musicians, in spite of the fact that they were solely used for the entertainment of a white audience when it came to grand revues. It may have been another form of slavery, but to an emerging modern jazz over arduous, backbreaking labor of Southern slavery. From the smaller African-American dance revues to the bigger and glamorous, gangster-run nightclubs such as The Cotton Club, New York provided Jazz the means to evolve into a more polished and appealing form of art by giving it a larger stage backed with much more money. The Harlem Renaissance of New York was responsible for allowing jazz to go mainstream via Broadway musicals and big night clubs, and was also responsible for making jazz more of a performative art by embellishing it with acting, tap-dancing, dance routines, cabaret, fashion, etc. And not to mention the huge flock of artists who later created artwork inspired by their experiences of these shows (Gioia 390-2 [ebook]). 

A new aesthetic emerged of light brown/mulatto women as erotic, dance performers, sprouted from the hidden desire of white people to learn about the exotic. There was a distinct New York style of jazz which had a lot more edginess and was played with energy and frenetics. There was a split, however, in the styles of New York jazz–one that was in dialogue with the black migrants from the South, represented by James P. Johnson’s music, and another that was in dialogue with the white audiences, such as Fletcher Henderson’s music (Henderson 115). Although there was a side of Harlem where black culture and intellectual life flourished to boost optimism, there was another more depressing side as well, reflected by the harsh economics of the slum-life. The underside of Harlem, however, helped to foster of jazz via rent parties and other underground, all-black revues (Gioia 370-4 [ebook]). The New York Revues in some sense validated the reality of the lives of poor, black people and served as a beacon of hope. 

Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson were among the people responsible for the emergence of the big band/jazz orchestra and refining jazz, so that it catered to white people by removing the chaotic elements of the New Orleans style (Gioia 419, 425 [ebook]). James P. Johnson, an incredible jazz musician and composer, along with Willie “The Lion” and Fats Waller created something new from the urban crucible of New York–a ragtime scene before the arrival of Louis Armstrong and other artists (Gioia 388-9 [ebook]). As is apparent, there is no single musician who can adequately represent the culture and music of New York because of the many styles and splits. However, it is clear that all the big musicians travelled to New York to capitalize and express their art and culture to a much bigger audience, which makes it more important than Chicago in the development of jazz.


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Commented on Hawken Ritter's Blog (it didn't publish after I submitted my comment, so it's below)

I really like your thesis statement in which you state that the racial tensions between black musicians and white patrons contributed to a new and developing relationship that was essential in the progression of the jazz. It’s a good thesis because it points out the silver lining of the grim situation and you do well to support it throughout your blog by providing solid examples like the Broadway musicals/Revues, improved economic incentives, and mainstream opportunity. Great job!