Lonesome roads and streets of dreams : place, mobility, and race in jazz of the 1930s and '40s / Andrew S. Berish.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-302) and index.

Introduction -- I dream of her and Avalon: Jan Garber, sweet jazz, and race at the Casino Ballroom -- From the "make-believe ballroom" to the Meadowbrook Inn: Charlie Barnet and the promise of the road -- A locomotive laboratory of place: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra -- Travels with Charlie Christian: between region and nation -- Conclusion: air spaces.

Print version record.

Any listener knows the power of music to define a place, but few can describe the how or why of this phenomenon. In Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams: Place, Mobility, and Race in Jazz of the 1930s and & rsquo;40s, Andrew Berish attempts to right this wrong, showcasing how American jazz defined a culture particularly preoccupied with place. By analyzing both the performances and cultural context of leading jazz figures, including the many famous venues where they played, Berish bridges two dominant scholarly approaches to the genre, offering not only a new reading of swing era jazz but an en.

"Focusing on white band leader Jan Garber, black band leader Duke Ellington, white saxophonist Charlie Barnet, and black guitarist Charles Christian, as well as traveling from Catalina Island to Manhattan to Oklahoma City, Lonesome Roads and Streets of Dreams explores the geography of jazz in 1930s and '40s America. Looking at the touring lives of these musicians and their bands, author Andrew S. Berish showcases the ways musicians crossed physical and racial boundaries and how they found expression for the geographical and racial dynamics that surrounded them through the insistent music they were creating. By examining both the performances and cultural contexts of these leading jazz figures, Berish bridges two dominant scholarly approaches to the genre, offering not only a new reading of swing era jazz -- one that highlights a culture particularly preoccupied with place and mobility -- but an entirely new framework for musical analysis in general."--Provided by the publisher

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