Friday, December 8, 2017

Music in world war two!

Jazz music was extremely popular. As many successful jazz musicians were black or Jewish, jazz and swing music was actually banned in Germany in 1939! In America, it continued to prosper and thrive. Patriotic songs and love songs could be heard on different radio stations throughout the war, which helped maintain support for the war. Jazz thrived because after the end of prohibition, it became accessible to people of all ages. High-schoolers and young people could enjoy jazz music. The musicians themselves were very diverse, representing different races, nationalities, and religions. As world war two began, swing musicians were no longer considered outsiders: it was used as a symbol of nationalism for many. Major Glenn Miller even started a military band/orchestra, made up of airforce soldiers. This caused the genre of swing to become more organized, as improvisation was discouraged. The genre of bebop was introduced during world war two, and was practiced by musicians that no longer related to the swing music that represented nationalism. These were musicians who were black or poor, and felt like the music played by a segregated army to represent a country that treated them poorly was no longer accessible to them.

Source: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/jazz-and-world-war-ii-rally-resistance-catalyst-victory


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