1930's Music of the Decade

Check out these music resources:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/ . Then do a search on the genre or one of the artists - - - better then wikipedia - they did a background check on wikipedia's info!

http://www.jazzstandards.com/history/history-3.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468301073.html

faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/jazzpoems2.html

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/

JAZZ Genre

Important people to Check out, as well as additional resources:

BLUES

Ella Fitzgerald - (the "Queen") known for her trademark voice as well as her plethera of literature throughout the 40's, 50's and into the 60's.

Billie Holiday - one of the more notorious singers that died young due to a fast, hard life, known for her beautiful singing voice. She came out of the New York Jazz scene.

https://www.bluescentric.com/blues-history/BLUESflash_timeline.swf

https://www.bluescentric.com/blues/styles/

SWING BIG BANDS

Glenn Miller - One of the Big band era leaders that was important to the swing era and on into the 40's.

Benny Goodman - Big band leader in Chicago, white band leader that made it popular across races and classes, primary solo instrument was the Clarinet which was new and unusual to the time.

Count Basie - (nicknamed the "Count" of Jazz, among the other "royalty" of the time) he was a band leader and piano player of the time.

Duke Ellington - (nicknames "Duke") popular band leader as well.

BOOGIE WOOGIE

Big Joe Turner - prominent Jazz singer that made this piano based jazz popular. He was an esteemed musician at the Newport Jazz Festival for years, gaining prominence and playing well into the 40's and 50's.

The Andrew Sisters - this trio was known for their boogie woogie style singing as well as their tight harmonies that resembled barbershop quartets. They brought the genre to the big screen as they made appearances in movies throughout the 40's and 50's as well.

Also see for Jazz resources:

http://www.jazzstandards.com/history/history-3.htm

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_depression.htm

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ASI/musi212/emily/eartist.html

COUNTRY/ FOLK Genre

Gene Autry - known for bringing the cowboy songs and image to the forefront, especially with his cowboy radio show that lasted well into the 50's.

Huddie Ledbetter - African American who recorded many traditional folk songs of the day of the African American people, consequentially a lot of the recordings were done while he was in prison.

Roy Rogers - Country singer and writer that was popular.

The Carter family was still very popular during this time, see the notes about them on the 1920's page

Also check out this website:

http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/historical/1930s.html

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/c_w/cw-front.html

BROADWAY/ MOVIE/PARLOR Genre

Bing Crosby - one of the original golden boys of the silver screen. He sang and danced as lead star in many movies throughout the 30's,40's and 50's. His recordings were popular in many homes after they saw the movies.

Fred Astaire - a singer and dancer from the silver screen that sang and popularized many Gershwin and Ira Berlin's favorite songs today.

Judy Garland - became a household name especially after her performance of Dorthy in "The Wizard of Oz," in 1939. She is still a favorite today.

The Boswell Sisters - one of the most popular women's group of singers during the swing era.

Cole Porter - He was one of the most widely sung and performed music writers of the time. His songs are still classics today.

Check out more information at:

http://www.jazzstandards.com/history/history-3.htm