Music from the 1920's

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    Louis Armstrong, known as the king of jazz, and Bessie Smith, known as the Empress of the Blues, both played remarkably in the 1920's. Gershwin wrote beautiful music we still love today. Their music still has world wide fame today. Read more about their lives below.

Bessie Smith

            Bessie Smith is known today as a famous blues singer of the 1920’s. She was known as the “Empress of the Blues” during her times and she was one of the most successful female singers of the 1920’s.

           In 1923, Bessie Smith went to New York for her first recording. She recorded "Down-Hearted Blues".  The song quickly became famous and soon after that, she became the highest paid African-American entertainer in America. Her songs were famous because she sang about the experiences of an African-American person living in America. She described their feelings like suffering, or joy.

          Bessie Smith not only attracted African-American audiences, but she also attracted white audiences. In 1929, she starred in a movie, "St. Louis Blues".  By this time, the blues were becoming less popular and jazz was becoming more popular. Bessie Smith changed from a blues singer to a jazz singer so that she would remain popular. She was still popular after her change in music, but not as popular as before. 

        Source:

• http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=145

Louis Armstrong

          Armstrong is known today as a famous jazz musician of the 1920’s. He started playing the cornet on the streets to help earn money for his family. 

          In 1921, Louis Armstrong was invited go to Chicago with Joe “King” Oliver, who was a famous cornet player. In 1922, he joined the Joe’s band. He was also asked to join Fletcher Henderson’s band, but he refused. Fletcher Henderson was a famous New York bandleader. He went back to Chicago and between 1925 and 1927, he made his own band called "The Hot Five" and he also made his first recording. During this time, he stopped playing the cornet and started playing the trumpet.

          In 1929, Louis Armstrong moved back to New York.  When he got there, many bandleaders came up to him to ask him to join their orchestras. He performed in Broadway, starred in movies, recorded movies, and people all around the world started to know him.   

                Source:

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/armstrong_l.html

George Gershwin

            George Gershwin was famous during the 1920’s for being a composer. He wrote many songs, including “Embraceable You”, sung by Billie Holliday, and “I Got Rhythm”, sung by Dorothy Dandridge. Gershwin’s serious compositions remained very popular in the concert repertoire and his stage and film songs continue to be jazz and vocal standards.

            George Gershwin’s first Broadway show was “La, La, Lucille” in 1919 and in the same year his song “Swanee”, written in 1917, was sung. That same year, Al Jolsen heard it and added it to his touring show. “Swanee” became a huge hit and helped Gershwin become more popular among people. From 1920 through 1925, Gershwin wrote the music for George White’s Scandals, which was an opera. In the 1922 Scandals Gershwin included a one-act opera called “Blue Monday”. It was the first serious music by him, even though it only lasted a single performance.

            George Gershwin’s brother, Ira Gershwin, also helped him to write some songs although George was the one that was more known. Either way, the songs were very popular during the 1920’s. Gershwin wrote many successful musicals for singers like Fred and Adele Astaire, Gertrude Lawrence, W.C. Fields, Jeanette MacDonald, and many other more.

Source:

http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/articles/gershwin/biography.html

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