Summary
Loud, improvizational, rebellious, and youthful, jazz was the sound of modern America. John Coltrane, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Eckstine, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Billy Strayhorn, and other legendary figures all made jazz history in Pennsylvania.
Continue the Story...
Bring this subject into focus through the following chapters. These stories take exploration of the main story further by providing more detail for you to learn and explore.
Overview: Jazz in Pennsylvania
Chapter One: Jazz in Pittsburgh
Chapter Two: Jazz in Philadelphia and Towns Across the Commonwealth
Historical Markers In the Story
Lesson Plans for this Story
Take your students back in history with these discussions and activities for the classroom
Story Bibliography
Original Documents
Timeline
1838 |
Black Philadelphia bandleader Frank Johnson and his musicians play for Queen Victoria in Britain.
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1897 |
Black musicians in Pittsburgh establish Local 471 of the American Federation of Musicians.
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1914 |
The Standard Theatre becomes the first black-owned and operated theater in the city of Philadelphia.
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1920 |
Prohibition begins in the U.S. Soon widespread disregard for the law, coupled with the interest in jazz music from a younger generation of whites and blacks, leads some to label this era, "the Jazz age."
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1921 |
Ethel Waters releases her first recordings for Black Swan Records.
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1929 |
Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang join Paul Whiteman's Orchestra.
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1934 |
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey co-found their own swing band.
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1941 |
Mary Cardwell Dawson starts the National Negro Opera Company in Pittsburgh, the first black opera company in the nation.
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1941 |
Kenny Clarke begins working with Thelonious Monk in Harlem.
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1944 |
Billy Eckstine leaves the Earl Hines orchestra to form his own band.
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1957 |
Philadelphia's American Bandstand is broadcast nationally on ABC.
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