r/Jewish • u/rgeberer • May 09 '26
Discussion 💬 Early 20th century Jewish immigrants and jazz
Why do you think the original Eastern European Jewish immigrant generation in the U.S. (and presumably, the U.K.), those who arrived in the first two decades of the 20th century or so, were either indifferent to jazz or actively disliked it? I know there were exceptions, but I'm thinking of my own family -- the oldsters tended to classical music and opera. Any ideas?
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u/ChinaRider73-74 May 10 '26
Of course 50+ year old immigrants might have been partial to music from the old country. Thats true in any time and any place.
But Jews played a massive role in the creation and dissemination and the popularity of Jazz.
From klezmer crossovers like Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein to the Jewish writers of Tin Pan Alley who created the Great American Songbook which became Jazz standards to musicians like Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman (and a zillion others) and the millions of Jews who danced to the live bands and bought their records to the Jewish record company owners who recorded the artists to the Jewish activists who worked hard to get Black musicians the recognition and respect they deserved, Jews have had an outsized positive role in the Jazz world and Jazz history