Perspectives on American Music, 1900-1950 (review)

Perspectives on American Music, 1900-1950. Edited by Michael Saffle. (Essays in American Music, 3.) New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. [xi, 415 p. ISBN 0-8153-2145-7. $60.]

James R. Heintze and Michael Saffle's four-volume series Essays in American Music complements the abundance of recent research on music in the United States. Saffle's second edited volume in the series, Perspectives on American Music, 1900- 1950, offers twelve essays--historical, sociopolitical, regional, theoretical, technical, and biographical examinations of musical life. Most are well told, clearly written, and impressively documented; a few are problematic, biased, or in need of editing. Though the chapters captured this reviewer's attention with varying degrees of success, most contribute admirably to an understanding of the spacious territory of American music.

Two contributors contemplate classical music in New England. Ellen Knight's study, "Boston's 'French Connection' at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," documents the musical exchange between Boston and Paris from 1880 to 1915. Knight chronicles the career of Charles Martin Loeffler, and she praises Georges Longy, a French oboist who helped establish French music in Boston's orchestral repertory. Her research highlights programming history in Boston music venues and enhances the literature on the relationship of American and European music. Mark DeVoto's tribute to the memory of a family friend, "Melville Smith: Organist, Educator, Early Music Pioneer, and American Composer," contributes further to our knowledge of music in Boston in the first half of the twentieth century. DeVoto's appendixes summarize archival as well as commercially available sources pertaining to Smith.

Blues and early jazz, central to any survey of American music, are the subjects of several essays in this volume. The essay by chemistry professor Raymond E. Dessy is the most problematic in the book (and the one most in need of editing). "Mapping the Blues Genes: Technological, Economic, and Social Strands--A Spectral Analysis" presents energetic commentary, but the author's vague approach to musical and historical details is troubling; writing on blues rhythm, for example, Dessy asks the reader to "[t]hink about the hemiola of courant and galliard dances . . . its relationships to complex African drum rhythms . . . is obvious" (pp. 56-57). Most unsettling is his superficial treatment of racial and economic issues. In a brief discussion of radio culture, for example, Dessy calls the airwaves "colorblind," adding glibly, "Hear it, like it, buy it, play it" (p. 65). Despite an impressive selection of sources, Dessy's scientific language hardly solves cultural mysteries, and his essay leaves the reader unsure of his message.

In response to studies that emphasize the connection between political crime and jazz culture in Kansas City, Marc Rice's "Dances, Frolics, and Orchestra Wars: The Territory Bands and Ballrooms of Kansas City, Missouri, 1925-1935" documents the close relationship of local jazz bands to the black community. Rice's discussion of the geographical segregation in the city and his vivid descriptions of social activism and entertainment help remedy the inaccurate view of black musicians as dependent on bars for professional survival. While documenting public dance accompaniment as a main source of income and describing how a competitive atmosphere nurtured musical innovation, Rice argues for closer consideration of Kansas City's venues and community-sponsored dances and concerts. He skillfully critiques primary sources and offers a well-written, finely documented study. Jean A. Boyd's study, "Western Swing: Working-Class Southwestern Jazz of the 1930s and 1940s," likewise challenges existing jazz history, claiming that "Western swing . . . defies the accepted notion that jazz is inherently urban Black music, because western swing was created in a rural context for rural, White, working-class Southwesterners" (p. 194). Although she sidesteps serious discussion of racial or class segregation in Texan society in her description of local dance organizations, she optimistically asserts that "the multiculturalism, the socioeconomic climate, and the abundance of dance venues in Texas made Texas the logical birthplace for Western swing" (p. 204). Her contribution closes with a substantial annotated bibliography...