American Music Timeline
Part IV: The Twenties
by David Johnson
|Circa 1920|| |
West 28th St. in New York City becomes center of popular music industry, through 1950s, known as "Tin Pan Alley," also style of sentimental popular songs
Singers Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith popularize blues; Beale Street in Memphis becomes blues center
Jazz musician Duke Ellington moves to New York, forms band that ultimately becomes Duke Ellington Orchestra
Country fiddlers Henry Gilliand, Eck Robertson make records, as music companies search for "old-time music"
Juilliard School for performing arts opens in New York
George Gershwin composes Rhapsody in Blue, symphonic jazz composition; Porgy and Bess, folk opera, 1935; becomes one of most original and popular American composers
Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, Tennessee, begins Saturday night radio broadcasts featuring regional music, helps fuse Southeastern and Western styles, creating country and western genre
Duke Ellington performs for radio from Cotton Club, nightclub in New York City's Harlem, wins national following; 1932 song "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" ushers in swing
N.Y. Symphony Orchestra merges with Philharmonic Society of N.Y. to form New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra
- Did you know?
- For more than a billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a "month of blessing" marked by prayer, fasting, and charity.