[78-L] Jazz as a catalog entry

[Rodger Holtin]

Don’t recall if I’ve asked this before, and don’t remember any answer, so
here we go
.

 

I am fortunate to have the Victor catalogs of 1917, 1920, 1930 and 1940.

 

The 1917 shows “Jass-Band” as a sub-class in the popular section and the
only record in it is the 1917 ODJB # 18255.  “Dance” records take 8 pages,
including 1 ½ pages of Fox Trots (and a page devoted to Vernon and Irene
Castle.)

 

By the 1920 issue, Jazz Band Records lists 18 sides by ODJB and Earl Fuller.
Dance Records take up seven pages, Vernon and Irene are missing (owing to
his death, I’m sure) and Fox Trots take up two pages.

 

By the 1930 issue, the Depression was setting in and the whole catalog is
slimmer, Jazz was missing as a category in any way, and Dance Records take
up six pages of three columns (of smaller type, too), so nearly three times
the volume of the earlier editions, Fox Trots taking four of the six pages.
(Most of them, I would guess, are found in Rust’s Jazz listings.
Incidentally, the earliest of the V-38000 series are included in this
edition.)

 

By the 1940 issue, Jazz is still missing, Dance Records take a page and a
half, the Fox Trots are missing from this list but are prominent on every
page as records by Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and others overflow the pages
of the alphabetical song listings.

 

It appears to me that they recognized Jazz as some kind of special music-art
form from the outset, and then later decided it was just dance music in
short skirts instead of lace.

 

The next catalog I have (big gap) is the 1970 Schwann and it lists Jazz as
separate category, albeit within Popular music, as opposed to Classical
music.

 

And now the question(s):

1-How was Jazz treated in the pages of other catalogs of that period
(Columbia & Brunswick for instance), 

and

2-When does Jazz appear (or re-appear) as a separate category in any
catalog(s)?  I am going to guess that the post-war decline of the swing
bands and the emergence of Bebop must have been reflected in the catalogs of
the day, too – yes?

Rodger

 

For best results use Victor Needles