Music in the 1950s: Jazz

Image: Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, and Howard Johnson at Downbeat, New York, N.Y. (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

During the 1950s, the United States saw the potential of jazz as a means to spread its cultural influence to Eastern bloc countries during the Cold War. In a mission of “cultural diplomacy” the US State Department created the Jazz Ambassadors, a group of prominent American jazz musicians deployed to tour the world in an attempt to spread one aspect of America’s culture and way of life to countries which would decide whether capitalism or communism was the ideal governmental system in the years to come.

As part of the Cold War, this American show of soft power represents a “cooling” of previously hot tensions between the two world powers during the World Wars. Perhaps coincidentally, one of the “weapons” employed by the Ambassadors was cool jazz, a style which flourished in the early 1950s, consisting of slow, dry tones, lacking the upbeat drive of previous generations of swing and bop. This change goes along with the political climate during the 1950s—as the hot World Wars cooled to the informational and diplomatic Cold War, so too did American music cool down. In the words of Dizzy Gillespie—one of the Jazz Ambassadors—“The weapon that we will use is the cool one.”

Image: Ella Fitzgerald in concert with a band, 1952. (Svenska Dagbladet / Karlsson, Yngve, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Audio: Ella Fitzgerald - Someone To Watch Over Me Play

Throughout her decades-long career, Ella Fitzgerald was an iconic voice in American jazz and popular music. She was one of the pioneers of the “scat” technique in jazz, but was primarily known for her renderings of popular American jazz standards such as those written by Ira and George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rogers and Hart.

However, her music stood for more than just its performance value. Fitzgerald’s agent Norman Granz was a civil rights activist, fighting for the equal rights of his musicians. Granz’s influence added an element of advocacy to Fitzgerald’s performances, integrating races during performances even in historically conservative areas like Houston, Texas. While their efforts were met with backlash initially, Fitzgerald’s charm and importance as a performer advanced civil rights significantly overall, particularly within the music industry.

Fitzgerald’s spirit as a performer—confident but innocent—was certainly influenced by 1950s American culture. While her success story rings true with the prominent “American dream” messaging of the day, the fact that she was able to achieve it as an African American woman set new precedents for years to come, especially relevant to the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 60s.

Image: Frank Sinatra on the set of his television program The Frank Sinatra Show. This photo appeared on the cover of Metronome Magazine in November 1950. (Metronome magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Audio: Frank Sinatra - I Get A Kick Out Of You Play

Widely regarded as one of the most influential performers of pop music, Frank Sinatra was a profound American singer and actor who helped shape the American canon of popular and jazz music. Like Fitzgerald, Sinatra also had a career lasting several decades, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Earlier on in his career, he supported American morale during the conflicts of World War II, while later on—in the 1950s—he made a career comeback, redefining himself and singing jazz-inspired standards.

As an Italian-American himself, Sinatra’s success also represented the integration of cultures within American society. From his beginnings in Hoboken, New Jersey, to his dropping out of high school, to his eventual successful career, Sinatra’s story is a quintessential example of the American dream. His rebellion as a teenager in dropping out of school, his keeping spirits up during World War II, and his musical career all speak to mid-20th century values present within American society.