“CATCHING AS THE SMALLPOX”: SOCIAL DANCE AND JAZZ, 1917–1935
Important Names and Brief Bios
Vernon and Irene Castle:
Husband-and-wife dance team who popularized the tango
and the fox-trot. The Castles attracted millions of middleclass Americans into ballroom classes, expanded the
stylistic range of popular dance, and established an image
of mastery, charisma, and romance. They were possibly
the biggest media superstars of the World War I era.
Original Dixieland Jazz
White group from New Orleans led by the cornetist Nick
Band:
LaRocca. Their recording of “Livery Stable Blues” and
“Dixieland Jass Band One-Step” was released in March
1917, and within a few weeks, it had sparked a national
fad for jazz music.
James Reese Europe (1880–
Talented African American pianist and conductor. Played
1919):
ragtime piano in cabarets and acted as a musical director
for several all-black vaudeville revues. In 1913, Vernon
and Irene Castle hired him to be their musical director.
From 1913 until 1918, Europe composed music for all of
the Castles’ “new” dance steps and provided musicians
for their live engagements.
Noble Sissle (1899–1975)
African American musicians who began their career with
and Eubie Blake (1883–
James Reese Europe’s orchestra in 1916. In 1921, Sissle
1983):
and Blake launched the first successful all-black
“CATCHING AS THE SMALLPOX”: SOCIAL DANCE AND JAZZ, 1917–1935
Broadway musical, Shuffle Along.
Don Azpiazú (1893–1943):
Latin American bandleader during the swing era; his
band played music to accompany ballroom adaptations of
South American and Caribbean dances. Recorded “El
Manicero (The Peanut Vendor)” with his band in 1930.
Paul Whiteman (1890–1967)
Bandleader for the most successful dance orchestra of the
1920s. He billed himself as the “King of Jazz,” widened
the market for jazz-based dance music, and paved the
way for the Swing Era.