Description
Book SynopsisThe story, based on extensive individual interviews, of the women's swing bands that toured extensively during World War II and after -- a kind of League of their Own for jazz.
Trade Review“
Swing Shift is a long-overdue historical corrective and a compelling read—a thoroughly remarkable achievement.”—David Hajdu, author of
Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn“
Swing Shift is the most original, thought-provoking jazz book written in the last thirty years. Sherrie Tucker’s virtuoso performance not only tears down the bars of silence that have kept women musicians invisible, but she reveals how this silence works to uphold the race and gender mythologies that we know as the history of the ‘swing era.’ After prying open our eyes and ears, Tucker takes us on a funky, surprising, inspiring musical journey that will drive all jazzheads back to the woodshed. And if that’s not enough, as a writer this ‘girl’ can swing off the page!”—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of
Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America “Sherrie Tucker’s beautifully written and meticulously researched book on women jazz bands introduces us to a generation of awesome musicians, whose stories raise provocative questions about the impact of race, class, gender, and sexuality on dominant conceptions of jazz history. In suggesting new ways of thinking about the place of women jazz musicians in recent U.S. history,
Swing Shift boldly challenges our contemporary understandings of the unruly politics of culture. ”—Angela Davis
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t in the History Books”
I Playing the Changes of World War II 1. Working the Swing Shift: Effects of World War II on “All-Girl” Bands
2. “Hours of Charm” with Phil Spitalny
3. Extracurricular Activities with the Prairie View Co-eds
II Road Hazards 4. Surveillance and Survival in the Jim Crow South
5. Internationalism and the Sweethearts of Rhythm
6. The Darlings of Rhythm: On the Road and Ready to Run
III USO-Camp Shows 7. Female Big Bands, Male Mass Audiences: Gendered Performances in a Theater of War
8. Battles of a “Sophisticated Lady”: Ada Leonard and the USO
9. “And, Fellas, They’re
American Girls,”: On the Road with the Sharon Rogers All-Girl Band
Conclusion: Post-War Changes, Familiar Refrains
Notes
Bibliography
