From Spirituals to Swing

Various Artists

album cover

A Social and Musical Landmark

A talent scout with an uncanny sense of what was coming next, John Hammond probably had more influence on the music of the twentieth century than any other nonmusician—he was responsible for discovering and recording Count Basie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among many others. Despite such a list, the modest, liberal-leaning Hammond considered one night in 1938 to be among his most important accomplishments: the all-star From Spirituals to Swing concert, an extravaganza that was the first "integrated" program at Carnegie Hall.

The original intent was to pay tribute to Bessie Smith, who'd died some fourteen months before. Hammond assembled an evening, sponsored by the Communist journal New Masses, that would showcase all forms of "American Negro Music" (as the program read): raw rural blues and ripping boogie-woogie and then-blooming swing. The talent lineup included the Basie band, the blindingly fast pianist Albert Ammons (heard in several settings, including torrid three-piano conversations with Meade "Lux" Lewis and Pete Johnson), bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Terry, and the pioneering gospel quartet known as Mitchell's Christian Singers.

The evening's written program reminded concertgoers that most of the performers "are making their first appearance before a predominantly white audience." The notes encouraged listeners to respond informally to the music, closing with a plea: "May we ask that you forget you are in Carnegie Hall?" The august venue doesn't seem to impact the musicians much—Basie's crew churns out the "hot" jazz that was then the rage, while Broonzy startles the crowd on "It Was Just a Dream." The From Spirituals to Swing box set collects related studio recordings (including, most curiously, spoken artist introductions Hammond appended in the 1950s prior to the concert's initial release) and performances from a sequel in 1939. Not all are sparkling gems—the sound is inevitably fuzzy, some selections are merely okay—but they catch the first moment black American music was presented as art, not just some exotic entertainment.

Genre: Blues, Jazz
Released: 1959, Vanguard (Reissued 1999)
Key Tracks: Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Albert Ammons: "Rock Me." Count Basie and His Orchestra: "One O'Clock Jump." Benny Goodman Sextet: "I Got Rhythm."
F.Y.I.: John Hammond on Record: An Autobiography finds the talent scout recalling his encounters with some of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century.
Book Pages: 811–812

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