BL ST 14 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Black Jazz Records
Document Summary
Swing era, race, transformation in the technology and business, rise of popular front - multiracial radical audience, mainstream audience. If he were white, he would be a millionaire? . Henderson worked within a segregated black entertainment world. Ellington, more well-known, embraced working in a white world. Contradiction: most of jazz musicians, cultural producers of jazz, whether in music, dance, or theater, are black while those profiting are white. National market emerges for jazz called swing. Tension emerged between artists and means of jazz distribution to market - recording companies, booking agencies, festivals, nightclubs, magazines - controlled by white agents. Made arrangement with irving mills, jewish agent to get best bookings, venues, recordings, radio outlets. If you can"t beat them, join em . Henderson held back by being black and music business changing (records) Payoff: agent raised duke"s profile, got him radio performances, national tour dates allowed him to survive great depression and rise of radio.
