"Cutting contests" between upcoming pianists were a fixture of Harlem entertainment.
Celebrated as the "Black Metropolis," Harlem--located in New York City's Manhattan borough--gave rise to an explosive, two-decade run of creativity. Through the 1920s and 1930s, artists, poets and intellectuals flocked there in hopes of making their mark during what's become known as "The Harlem Renaissance." Jazz and blues artists like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith wrote the soundtrack to this period, one that reaffirmed New York's position as America's unofficial jazz capital.
History
Initially a well-to-do white suburb of New York City, Harlem's character began changing at the onset of World War I when middle-class African-Americans discovered the area. A newly opportunistic class of business people and landlords sprang up to meet the demand. By 1930, about 72 percent of New York's African-American populace lived in Harlem. Conversely, records show that 118,792 whites moved out to escape this new influx of residents.
Effects
Live jams and dance concerts helped focus the Harlem jazz scene.
The Harlem Renaissance jazz scene centered on live shows that ran into the early morning hours. "Vanity Fair's Intimate Guide To New York After Dark" warned readers: "Don't try it till midnight or after." The Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom accommodated big names like Armstrong and Ellington, while their lesser-known counterparts stayed busy at "after hours" venues like the New Vaudeville Comedy Club--where informal jamming was the norm.
Types
Continuing demand from audiences not shy about spending their money required catering to every possible taste. Slick but hard-swinging bands reigned at the Cotton Club. Patrons with grittier tastes gravitated toward the galloping "stride" piano style popularized by the likes of Fats Waller, while singers like Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith packed houses. With so much work available, even relatively obscure performers like the lesbian pianist, Gladys Bentley, had little trouble making a living.
Misconceptions
Rightfully regarded as an accepting scene, the Harlem Renaissance subculture did not completely escape the color line. With little exception, African-Americans were not permitted to live where they shopped, forcing many to live in cramped, unsanitary tenements. Survival often meant choosing between poorly-paying menial labor, or illicit trades like bootlegging. Segregation also reigned at the Cotton Club, whose glitzy floor shows and big bands played to white audiences. African-American patrons were generally barred.
Time Frame
Unlike in rock music, horns are a central voice in the jazz scene.
Declining economic fortunes and race riots ended Harlem's creative run by the mid-1940s. Jazz musicians struggled to survive as ill-paid accompanists, while many of the keynote venues began closing after World War II. A handful struggled to hang on, but by the 1960s, the jazz scene shifted downtown, to the Greenwich Village area. Figures like tenor saxophonist John Coltrane moved there but upheld the Harlem Renaissance's legacy of restless experimentalism in their own uncompromising fashion.
