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In the words of Duke Ellington, “Swing is not a kind of music, it is the part of rhythm that causes a bouncing, buoyant, terpsichorean urge.” The swing era started in the 1930’s and went through the mid 1940’s becoming a huge phenomenon, taking jazz to heights of popularity never achieved before or since. Because of this, public dancing also gained popularity. By the 1930’s it became one of the key American rituals. For some people, dancing and swing music served as an important social event, and for others it offered a much-needed escape from the economic difficulties of the depression which was going on during that time. History has affected swing in other times also. World War II caused hundreds of thousands of blacks to move north and west to work in war plants. All these people helped support a style of black popular music, which would be called R&B. There was also a recording ban from 1942-44 that influenced the creation of another style of music, bebop. Swing and other types of music of that time all affected each other and had many similarities and differences. A musician who had a huge influence on the formation of swing or big band music was Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong’s rhythmic innovations loosened up the beat of jazz, provided a greater variety of rhythms, and made its momentum more flowing. This influenced other musicians and transformed the rhythmic feel of Jazz. These changes in the rhythms of jazz became more pronounced as traditional instruments were replaced by newer instrument techniques such as the tuba used to keep a “two-to-the-bar beat”, being replaced with a fleeter string bass to keep a “four-to-the-bar beat”, producing an even, flowing feel.
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