Swing is Back essays

Swing is Back essays The scene: A crowded dance floor. Its dark, the fans are dressed wildly, the music is blaring, and the dancers are going crazy. Its the year 2002. Normally, in this situation, youd expect the music to be some kind of rock, alternative, or even country. However, the music is swing, and the fans are all between the ages of sixteen and thirty-something (aside from a few elderly people sitting in the back and enjoying the music), followers of a recent movement aptly labeled neo-swing. This recent craze of swing music is one that is getting larger all the time. After swing music lost its popularity in the late postwar 1940 s, nobody really expected it to make a comeback. They were wrong. The movement is larger than was ever expected, and still growing. Popular mostly with a generation labeled X, swing music is much more than just music. Its about retro clothing, a new, more laid-back attitude, a dance that lets young people let loose, and the fusion of classic big-band sounds from the old Swing Era with new music. Before one can really understand swing musics recent popularity, its important to know about the Swing Era of the 1930s - 1950s. With names like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, and Glen Miller, swing music evolved from classic jazz in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Back then, swing music served as a cultural escape from World War II and the seriousness of the times. Its own unique language, dance steps, and call and response rhythms created a subculture that immersed its participants emotionally and physically in the music. However, when the war ended, so did the cultures interest in swing (Mahoney). Today, many people are wondering, Why has swing become popular again? It was gone fifty years ago! Many of the same reasons for its original popularity apply to the recent craze. ...