Dangerous rhythms : jazz and the underworld

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Title:

Dangerous rhythms : jazz and the underworld

Author:

English, T. J., 1957- author.

ISBN:

9780063031418

9780063031425

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

437 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Contents:

I. MAJOR CHORD. Shadow of the demimonde -- Sicilian message -- Kansas City Stomp -- Disfiguration -- Birth of the hipster -- Friends in dark places -- Down on the plantation -- II. FLATTED FIFTH. The crooner -- Swing Street -- "Jazz Provides Background for Death" -- The ghost of Chano Pozo -- Fear and loathing at the Copacabana -- The muck and the mud -- Twilight of the underworld -- Coda.

Subject Term:

Jazz -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Jazz -- History and criticism.

Music and crime.

Organized crime -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Summary:

"Dangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America's most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. By offering artists like Louis Armstrong, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald a stage, the mob, including major players Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, provided opportunities that would not otherwise have existed. Even so, at the heart of this relationship was a festering racial inequity. The musicians were mostly African American, and the clubs and means of production were owned by white men. It was a glorified plantation system that, over time, would find itself out of tune with an emerging Civil Rights movement. Some artists, including Louis Armstrong, believed they were safer and more likely to be paid fairly if they worked in "protected" joints. Others believed that playing in venues outside mob rule would make it easier to have control over their careers." --

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Lake Elmo Library	306.48425 ENG	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	306.48425 ENG	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	306.48425 ENG	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From T. J. English, the New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne, comes the epic, scintillating narrative of the interconnected worlds of jazz and organized crime in 20th century America.

"[A] brilliant and courageous book." --Dr. Cornel West

Dangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America's most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. By offering artists like Louis Armstrong, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald a stage, the mob, including major players Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, provided opportunities that would not otherwise have existed.

Even so, at the heart of this relationship was a festering racial inequity. The musicians were mostly African American, and the clubs and means of production were owned by white men. It was a glorified plantation system that, over time, would find itself out of tune with an emerging Civil Rights movement. Some artists, including Louis Armstrong, believed they were safer and more likely to be paid fairly if they worked in "protected" joints. Others believed that playing in venues outside mob rule would make it easier to have control over their careers.

Through English's voluminous research and keen narrative skills, Dangerous Rhythms reveals this deeply fascinating slice of American history in all its sordid glory.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

A swinging, blood-drenched history about the symbiotic relationship between jazz and organized crime through much of the 20th century. In this steamy, noirish account of the Jazz Age and beyond, similar in spirit to English's Havana Nocturne and other books, the author takes readers from the bordellos of New Orleans and the speak-easies of Chicago to the tropical clubs of Havana and the desert empire of Vegas. The music provides the soundtrack to a wide range of illicit activity, which generated revenues that allowed the mob to flourish and to launder money from less legitimate endeavors. Within the strictures of so-called respectable society, both the Black musicians who developed jazz and the immigrants who built an empire on vice were outsiders. The musicians often felt that they had a better shot at success and protection by aligning their professional lives with the underworld rather than with the police and authorities of the straight world. Yet as nightclubs with names such as the Cotton Club and the Plantation indicate, there was plenty of racism, as well. Black musicians were often restricted to the stage, and the audience and management of the clubs were almost entirely White. English splits the narrative into two halves: In the first, the author focuses on Louis Armstrong; in the second, Frank Sinatra, both of whom had connections with organized crime throughout their careers. By the end of the century, both jazz and organized crime had changed, with the former declining in popularity and the latter in power. The civil rights and Black Power movements, as well as the progression of the music from the dance floor to the conservatory, contributed to the severing of a relationship that had allowed both to flourish through the eras of red-light districts, Prohibition, and corrupt city bosses. Much of this story has been told elsewhere, but English capably brings it back to life. Despite few groundbreaking insights, this is entertaining, vivid cultural history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

English (Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba) expertly explores the connection between organized crime and jazz from its inception to 1980. Relying mostly on secondary sources, he initially links the growth of jazz during the 1920s and '30s to mob-owned clubs and corrupt political bosses. He demonstrates how Louis Armstrong first became popular through Al Capone-operated night spots in Chicago and through management from Capone lackey Joe Glaser. English outlines the direct relationship between the meteoric rise of Duke Ellington and gangster Owney Madden who owned the Cotton Club. He moves to Kansas City, where the crooked political machine of Tom Pendergast and mobster John Lazia fostered the growth of booze-drenched venues that nurtured the Kansas City sound of Bennie Moten and Count Basie. English continues with Frank Sinatra's association with the underworld from his early friendship with gangster Willie Moretti to his Vegas days with Sam Giancana, and chronicles the rise and fall of Morris Levy, owner of Manhattan's nightspot Birdland and Roulette Records. VERDICT Though sometimes touching on non-jazz artists (like Bobby Darin) and violence unrelated to the mob (e.g., a beating of Miles Davis), English's book adroitly chronicles jazz music's iron-clad, often-unspoken ties to the mob.--Dr. Dave Szatmary

Intro	p. 1
Part 1 Major Chord
1 Shadow of the Demimonde	p. 13
2 Sicilian Message	p. 40
3 Kansas City Stomp	p. 62
4 Disfiguration	p. 89
5 Birt of the Hipster	p. 113
6 Friends in Dark Places	p. 137
7 Down on the Plantation	p. 163
Part 2 Flatted Fifth
8 The Crooner	p. 189
9 Swing Street	p. 219
10 "Jazz Provides Background for Death"	p. 245
11 The Ghost of Chano Pozo	p. 271
12 Fear and Loathing at the Copacabana	p. 297
13 The Muck and the Mud	p. 327
14 Twilight of the Underworld	p. 350
Coda	p. 372
Acknowledgments	p. 377
Notes	p. 381
Sources	p. 409
Index	p. 421

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Kirkus Review

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