The name given to a jazz style and to a related phase of popular music that originated around 1930 when New Orleans jazz was in decline; it was characterized by a greater emphasis on solo improvisation, larger ensembles, a repertory based largely on Tin Pan Alley songs, and above all the more equal weight given to the four beats of the bar (hence the term ‘four-beat jazz’ occasionally applied to this style). This important change in jazz rhythm took place gradually between 1930 and 1935 as the tuba was superseded by the double bass (playing in the walking bass style) and the banjo by the rhythm guitar, and the basic pulse was transferred from the snare drum to the hi-hat or ride cymbal. The harmonic rhythm in swing was generally much faster than in New Orleans jazz, sometimes changing as often as twice a bar, and soloists were expected to improvise melodies freely over these ‘changes’. There was a notable increase in instrumental virtuosity among soloists in this period; some of the most prominent were Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Chu Berry, Benny Goodman, Johnny Hodges and Lester Young. At the same time instruments not previously regarded as suitable for solo work began to be given solo roles, including the drums (Gene Krupa and Chick Webb), double bass (Jimmy Blanton), vibraphone (Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo) and guitar (Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian). The development of swing coincided with the emergence by 1932 of the 13-piece dance band or ‘big band’ which became the standard vehicle for this music. Such bands included those led by Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Earl Hines. However, the musicians themselves often preferred to work in smaller groups, which allowed more scope for solo improvisation and whose repertory was not restricted to dance music. The swing rhythm section became an important element in rhythm and blues and hence in early rock and roll, and was also used by some traditional jazz groups from the early 1940s. Although in the late 1940s the swing style ceased to be the dominant movement in jazz, it continued to attract excellent young players and was still commercially viable in the 1990s.
See also Jazz §5. Swing and Big Bands (1930–45).
A. Hodeir: Hommes et problèmes du jazz, suivi de La religion du jazz (Paris, 1954; Eng. trans., rev. Hodeir, as Jazz: its Evolution and Essence, New York, 1956/R1975)
G. Schuller: Early Jazz: its Roots and Musical Development (New York, 1968), 6ff
M.C. Gridley: Jazz Styles (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1978, rev. 2/1985 as Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, with suppl. Instructor’s Manual and Discography)
C. Bohländer: Die Anatomie des Swing (Frankfurt am Main, 1986)
G. Schuller: The Swing Era: the Development of Jazz, 1930–1945 (New York and Oxford, 1989)
D. Stowe: Swing Changes: Big Band Jazz in New Deal America (Cambridge, MA, 1994)
B. Kernfeld: What to Listen for in Jazz (New Haven, CT, 1995)
J. BRADFORD ROBINSON