Spinning the Record the Band Condon Put Together Remains His Greatest Achievement in Jazz, the Later Years at Nick’S Playing Chicago-Styled Dixieland Notwithstanding
III. DEPRESSION, CHANGES AND GROWTH Sweet and soothing gives way to swing and power The Depression changed the entertainment and music industries worldwide. No longer were hot bands or crashing Beethovinian and Wagnerian climaxes sought after by the public; by and large, they wanted to be soothed, comforted by soft, sweet sounds. In such a world, the hot music of Morton, Parham, even Nichols and Ellington had to be softened down. Jelly Roll’s “Burnin’ the Iceberg” of 1929 gave way to “Harmony Blues” in 1930; Tiny Parham, whose music had been uncompromised hot or ethnically-influenced instrumentals, was forced to add a ballad singer; Nichols added several ballad singers, and Ellington went from the “Cotton Club Stomp” and “Shout ‘Em, Aunt Tillie” to such soothing sounds as “Mood In- digo,” “Solitude” and his Gershwin-influenced Victor recording of “Creole Rhapsody.” In such a world, the soft sounds of “lush” classical music, as exemplified by Koussev- itzky and Stokowski, reigned supreme, as did the popular bands of Guy Lombardo and Brit- isher Ray Noble. Of course, there was a difference in quality even among this company; by and large, Koussevitzky used his position and his orchestra to promote good music, whereas Stokowski used good music to promote his position and orchestra, and Ray Noble’s extraor- dinarily tasteful arrangements, which have miraculously stood the test of time, were far above the slurping, throbbing saxes of Guy Lombardo. But even Armstrong was affected and, in 1930, he fronted a large orchestra modeled on the Lombardo style. One critic put it this way: “His trumpet still says ‘yes, yes,’ but his orchestra says ‘no, no!’” Yet great art was still hanging in, if only by a thread, and a certain segment of the Ger- man, French, British and American publics still wanted hot jazz and great classical music.
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