A musical interlude. During the 1920s, jazz became the new popular music, and many jazz bands, mostly small groups of five to seven musicians (e.g... Louis Armstrong's "Hot Five" and "Hot Seven" groups) thrived. It was a decade of unparalleled prosperity in America. By contrast, the next decade, the 1930s, was the time of the great depression, with real incomes and wages falling by one quarter or more. Times were tough for musicians.

a. Why would the wages of musicians fall by more than wages of other workers, when the income of households fell during the depression?

b. The 1930s was also the era of the "big bands," large ensembles of over twelve musicians playing highly arranged "swing." How might the changing economic times have affected the style of music played?

c. In the early 1940s, World War II came along, and all young men became subject to the military draft. During this time, many female vocal groups, such as the Andrews sisters ("Don't sit under the apple tree, with anyone?