While any article about music should have the music as its primary focus, the attempt herein is, in addition, to provide a background and cultural context to a group of exceptional dance bands from the early 1920s.1 The bands herein examined all bear certain musical similarities. However, beyond any subtlety, there lies a world of musical sound that was completely disparate from what had immediately preceded the years 1920 to 1925 and would prove equally different from that which appeared after those years. It is important for the listener of the music and the reader of this effort not just to sense the exceptionality of the musical expression, but also know the reasons.
It has been scientifically determined that even so-called “positive” stereotypes are harmful. 2 3 That being said, this author nonetheless maintains that, based on the evidence, the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. was both a Midwestern company (it was founded in 1845 in Cincinnati, Ohio by John Moses Brunswick, who was born in Switzerland)4 and that its business practices were governed by pragmatism, both before and after the inception of its gramophone business.
A Gradually Evolving Organization
Although J. M. Brunswick Manufacturing Company was originally created for the purposes of manufacturing carriages, its owner soon realized that billiards tables were largely manufactured in the United Kingdom and exp
