From the start of the 1930s, until approximately the middle of the decade, the music industry suffered from the Great Depression. Economical issues getting milder, and milder, helped the music industry to bring new life and a new era in music, where big band swing and crooning started to gain popularity.
While World War II was fought (1939-1945), music would still grow in the 1940s even with all the negative stuff happening. Music has its fair share of magic in it. The kind of magic that even Muggles can use. Music helped people back then in those days and gave hope to those, who needed it.
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The most popular genres that gave hope in the 1930s and 1940s were Jazz, Latin, Swing, Big band, and Country. In both decades these were the ones people would listen to a lot.
Gene Krupa (the 1930s)
Gene Krupa started his musician's career as early as the mid-late 1920s. He was a great drummer and was hired to play in a band named Thelma Terry and Her Playboys back in 1927. He would gain national notoriety and fame after joining a band led by Benny Goodman, aka The King Of Swing, due to his notoriously great drumming.
The genres that he mainly played were swing and jazz. There were a few great highlights in the 30s that could be showcased. For example, in the song 'Sing, Sing, Sing' his drum solos and tom-tom interludes are first. The second notable one would be his leaving Goodman's band and forming one of his own. His improvement musically wasn't noticeable in the 30s, but later on, he'd show great improvement as a musician and a songwriter.
Krupa's appearance in the movie Ball Of Fire with the song 'Drum Boogie' is a great example of what a genius this man was behind the drums. The fact that Krupa composed it with Roy Eldrige, a trumpeter, just speaks volumes about how big this man truly was.
Louis Armstrong (the 1940s)
The legendary Louis Armstrong started his career officially already in 1918, so by the time the 40s came around, he was a well-established musician in the jazz scene. It was during this decade, however, when Armstrong decided to focus on his career as a vocalist instead of being the 'world's greatest trumpet player' that he was known for. At the beginning of the decade, Armstrong was also established permanently in Queens, New York. He would start playing more in small bands due to the public's uninterest in big bands. At the end of the 40s Joe Glaser, Louis Armstrong's manager formed a traditional jazz big band for Armstrong to sing in called Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars. The name All-Stars comes from the other members being well-known former bandleaders themselves.
Probably the people reading this have already figured out that Louis Armstrong was a great jazz musician, but he also played swing, Dixieland, and traditional pop. His improvement was notable in his vocals during this decade and the decades after that. His unique voice gave a great vibe to his music as a whole.
You can't leave writing about Louis Armstrong without mentioning his glorious hit 'What A Wonderful World'. The man's vocals in this are just legendary and every music enthusiast, who's even slightly tried to learn about music history has come across it at some point. The mellow sound resonates well with Armstrong's raspy but calming vocals.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940s_in_music
- https://www.retrowaste.com/1930s/music-in-the-1930s/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Krupa
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong
- My mind and knowledge about the decades and the artists I chose (Link unavailable to almost everyone)
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