Die zweite Akkulturation
The musical development between about 1920 and 1930 is revealed as a reaction to the changing production conditions of Jazz, the changing economic base, the changed social position of the musicians in the community and of society towards Jazz. It is shown how the Afro-American elements have been conserved in this process of adaption in a form that was no longer in crass opposition to European standards. Thus Swing connects in a nearly perfect way the two essential prerequisites of a Pop-Music: It is highly standardised in so far as its formal unfolding, its instrumentation and its harmony is concerned; and yet at the same time, because of the spontaneous expression of the soloists, remains continuously new. In it, on the one hand, is shown consideration for the traditional occidental aesthetic standards: technical discipline, harmony, proportion; on the other hand, it conserves some of the valuable elements because of which nearly 20 years ago the Original Dixieland Jazz Band could be regarded as a sensational exotic novelty.