Duke Ellington

 Duke Ellington, one of the famous jazzman, on the Times Magazine

           During the 1930s, there were many musicians.  One of the most famous musicians was Duke Ellington.  In 1931, Ellington’s band became one of the most famous bands of the 1930s.  After a few years they made a few songs, such as “Mood Indigo”, “Rocking in Rhythm”, and the “Lime house Blues”.

          In 1932, Duke Ellington created a song, “It Don’t Mean A Thing”, which featured the voice of Ivie Anderson.  Then in the spring of 1933, he had produced an “instrumental version” of the song called “Sophisticated Lady”, which became one of the Top Five Hits.  In 1934, he created a popular movie known as “Murder at the Vanities.     

          Duke Ellington had also produced other instrumental versions of songs, such as “Diminuendo in Blue” and “Creole Rhapsody”.  In 1937, he helped the Marx Brothers produce music for their film, “A Day at The Race”.  Then in 1938, his song “I Let a Song Go out of My Heart”, became the third number one hit.  Duke Ellington has showed America a lot of new songs.

Ira and George Gershwin

George and Ira Gershwin made many musical productions

           During the 1930s, there were many musicians.  One of the famous musicians was George and Ira Gershwin.  During the 1930, both George and Ira Gershwin left Broadway to go to Hollywood.  In Hollywood they joined and started writing songs for the Silver Screen. 

          In 1931, George produced two songs, “Second Rhapsody” and “Cuban Overture”.  Then he produced his first piece of filming, which was “The King of Jazz”.  After “The King of Jazz” had been produced, he wanted to create another film.  This film was called “Delicious”. 

          In the same year, George and Ira started the American Opera, “Porgy and Bess”.  This opera was about their daily life and their love.  However the box office couldn’t accept the cost of the show, which caused it to close right after opening.  Then in 1935, “Porgy and Bess” was opened.  After George’s death in 1937, this opera became very popular.  On the July of 1937, George didn’t survive the surgery for cancer and died.  Ira continued to share George’s work with other people. 

Other Musicians

Benny Goodman

    Benny Goodman produced many albums during the 1930s.  Some of these were “The Birth of Swing”, “After You’ve Gone”, and “Sing, Sing, Sing”. He played many concerts during the 1930s.  He also started many new styles to jazz.

 

 There were many new musicians during the 1930s in the United States. Some musicians sang about events during the 1930s while others sang about their emotions. Two famous musicians of this time were Duke Ellington and Ira Gershwin.