Swingin' the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture

During the 1930s, swing bands combined jazz and popular music to create large—scale dreams for the Depression generation, capturing the imagination of America's young people, music critics, and the music business. Swingin' the Dream explores that world, looking at the racial mixing—up and musical swinging—out that shook the nation and has kept people dancing ever since.

"Swingin' the Dream is an intelligent, provocative study of the big band era, chiefly during its golden hours in the 1930s;...