First for the musicians, then for the world: the birth of Swing Street -- Let's have a jubilee: 52nd Street goes commercial -- Here comes the man with the jive: Stuff Smith -- A little law and order in my music: the John Kirby Sextet and Maxine Sullivan -- Swingin' down that lane: 52nd Street at the height of the swing era -- Making it into the big time: Count Basie, Joe Marsala, and "mixed" bands -- This conglomeration of colors: bebop comes to Swing Street -- Apples and oranges: 52nd street and the jazz war.
Summary:
Between the mid-1930s and the late '40s the centre of the jazz world was a two-block stretch of 52nd Street in Manhattan. Dozens of crowded basement clubs played host to legends like Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. These clubs defied the traditional boundaries between art and entertainment, and between the races.
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