Dangerous rhythms : jazz and the underworld /

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Includes bibliographical references (pages 409-420) and index.I. MAJOR CHORD. Shadow of the demimonde -- Sicilian message -- Kansas City Stomp -- Disfiguration -- Birth of the hipster -- Friends in dark places -- Down on the plantation -- II. FLATTED FIFTH. The crooner -- Swing Street -- "Jazz Provides Background for Death" -- The ghost of Chano Pozo -- Fear and loathing at the Copacabana -- The muck and the mud -- Twilight of the underworld -- Coda."From T.J. English, the New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne, comes the epic, scintillating narrative of the interconnected worlds of jazz and organized crime in 20th century America"--"Dangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America's most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. By offering artists like Louis Armstrong, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald a stage, the mob, including major players Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, provided opportunities that would not otherwise have existed. Even so, at the heart of this relationship was a festering racial inequity. The musicians were mostly African American, and the clubs and means of production were owned by white men. It was a glorified plantation system that, over time, would find itself out of tune with an emerging Civil Rights movement. Some artists, including Louis Armstrong, believed they were safer and more likely to be paid fairly if they worked in "protected" joints. Others believed that playing in venues outside mob rule would make it easier to have control over their careers." -- Amazon.com.