ANNALS, AAPSS, 566, November 1999

Diffusion and Syncretism:

The Modern Jazz Tradition
By PAUL LOPES
ABSTRACT: This article presents an analysis of the musical syncretism involved in the development of a modern jazz tradition in the
United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It shows how
a professional ethos among popular musicians during this period
guided their reinterpretation and reinvention of folk, popular, and
classical music practices in the creation of this music tradition. It further argues that this ethos led them, in their low-status positions as
popular musicians, to affirm their legitimacy through the creation of
a high-art aesthetic. In general, this study shows how the social context in the diffusion of jazz practices affected the transformation of
these practices in value and form in this century.

Paul Lopes is assistant professor of sociology and director of the Communications

and Media Studies Program at Tufts University. He specializes in the sociology of culture, art, and mass media.

25

26

THE ANNALS
DIFFUSION
AND
OF SYNCRETISM
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

NE of the most commonly studied aspects of diffusion in music

is syncretism. A term developed in
anthropological studies of acculturation, syncretism refers to the process of forging together elements
from different cultures (Merriam
1964). It entails changes in value and
forma process of reinterpretation
and reinvention in cultural diffusion.
For anthropologists, this meant reinterpreting and reinventing elements
from two or more distinct cultures, as
in the syncretism of American indigenous cultures, African cultures,
and European cultures in music of
the Americas.
Initial studies of diffusion in
music focused on syncretism in folk
or ethnic music. In contemporary
scholarship, however, studies
addressing syncretism focus on a
wide array of music that includes
popular commercial music as well as
classical music in countries such as
Iran and India (Nettl 1985; Manuel
1988). Interest in syncretism in
music also has moved beyond the
field of anthropology. The cultural
exchange of practices and technology
evident in the creation of music
worldwide has attracted the interest
of sociologists, musicologists, and
scholars in the field of cultural studies (Middleton 1990; Gilroy 1993;
Lipsitz 1994). While scholarship outside the discipline of anthropology
does not use the term syncretism, it
attempts to understand the same
process of reinterpretation and reinvention in the forging of musical elements across music cultures. The
increased interest in syncretism
reflects a general shift in cultural

analysis toward emphasizing the fluidity of cultural practices in an

increasingly interconnected modern
world.
The contemporary interest in syncretism no longer centers on establishing principles of diffusion as in
earlier anthropological studies but,
instead, centers more on the social
context in which diffusion takes
place. In a sense, interest has shifted
from derivation of principles to
analysis of instances of syncretism as
a reflection of the social world in
which music cultures create symbolic culture. The focus is on syncretism as symbolic behavior within a
specific social context. This involves
emphasizing the interpretive turn in
syncretism as well as the social
organization in which this symbolic
behavior occurs.
This article will describe the social
context in which professional urban
musicians in the United States reinterpreted and reinvented musical
practices in this century. These
musicians by mid-century had developed a modern jazz tradition in
American music that remains active
today. The development of this music
tradition was a unique syncretism of
value and form incorporating elements borrowed from European classical music, American popular
music, and African American folk
1
music.
THE PROFESSIONAL
URBAN MUSICIAN

The development of a modern jazz

tradition had its roots in the rise of a
professional class of urban musicians

DIFFUSION AND SYNCRETISM

in the early part of this century. The

growth in urban entertainment that
accompanied the urbanization and
industrialization of American society
provided the foundation for the
development of a professional class of
musicians. Much as other skilled
work developed as professions during this period, so, too, did music
making. The professional ethos of
this new class of musician in America
guided the gradual evolution of a
modern jazz tradition from the twenties through the fifties.
The professional ethos of urban
musicians developed in a parallel
fashion among white musicians and
black musicians. White urban musicians were the first to develop a widespread professional ethos. This ethos
developed later among black urban
musicians due to the small number of
them in major urban metropolises
outside the South in the beginning of
this century and due to their exclusion from the artistic culture of white
professional musicians. Black urban
musicians, however, soon began
their own development of a professional ethos in their own organizations and in their own artistic culture. White and black musicians
participated in a more integrated
fashion only in the swing era of the
thirties and forties, although racial
segregation remained the rule rather
than the exception.
The professional ethos developed
by white urban musicians and black
urban musicians shared certain
practices and values. Professional
musicians in the early part of the
century were eclectic in their performance practices. They performed
in a variety of settings, such as public

27
parks, concert halls, vaudeville
shows, musicals, movie theaters,
hotels, and dance clubs. Both cultures adopted values as highly
skilled generalists who were adept
with classical music practices as well
as popular music practices. Both
viewed themselves as legitimate artists capable of performing the highest quality of music, particularly in
comparison to the amateur folk
musicians then migrating to major
cities across the country.
While both white and black professional musicians shared a basic ethos
as legitimate artists, black professional musicians faced a lower status
in relation to white professional
musicians. It was common in the
early part of this century, for example, for black professional musicians
performing before white audiences
not to have music stands or written
music. Although these musicians
were literate skilled artists, they did
not want to offend the assumptions of
their white audiences. In the early
part of this century, it was black
audiences primarily that were
treated to the eclectic practices and
professional ethos of black musicians. While, during the swing era,
white professional musicians and
white audiences would show a
greater respect for black professional
musicians, the music market would
continue to position black artists in a
lower status in relation to white artists. The lower status of black professional musicians had an important
effect on their professional ethos.
The quest for legitimacy as highly
skilled artists was far greater for
black professional musicians and
faced far more obstacles than a

28

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

similar drive among white professional musicians.

The broad eclecticism in popular
performance enjoyed by professional
musicians as legitimate artists had
eventually disappeared by 1930. The
diversity of venues characteristic of
popular performance in the centurys
first three decades no longer prevailed as public parks, silent movie
theaters, vaudeville shows, and variety theaters disappeared as performance venues. The Great Depression
was a final blow to this diversity in
severely undermining the market in
popular music and leading to its consolidation around social dance and
popular song. The record, radio, and
film industries in the thirties also
would promote the conventions of
social dance and popular song.
Unlike the previous diversity of
popular performance venues and
aesthetics, popular performance in
the thirties centered on a more limited aesthetic based on live social
dance and the recording and broadcasting of popular songs.
The conventions of social dance
music in post-depression America
had their roots in the society orchestras of the previous two decades.
With the initial dance craze of fox
trots and tangos in the second decade
of this century, professional musicians organized society orchestras
that combined legitimate classical
music practices with popular social
dance and popular song. In the twenties, however, society orchestras not
only performed social dance numbers
and popular songs but also continued
to include in their repertoire excerpts
from classical compositions. These
orchestras also continued high-art

performances in concert halls and

silent movie theaters. Following the
depression, however, the eclectic aesthetics of professional musicians in
society orchestras were undermined
by the conventions of social dance
and popular song.
At the same time that the popular
music market consolidated around
social dance and popular song, classical music moved into a separate
world of music making. Classical
music and opera moved into a distinct organization of production in
separate performance spaces, with a
more select audience and a separate
professional culture of classical
musicians. This transformation
came about through the patronage of
an urban elite interested in establishing a financial foundation for an
exclusive space for high-art performance. This co-optation of classical
music and opera music further
undermined the eclecticism of pro2
fessional musicians.
By the end of the 1920s, professional musicians faced a more delineated dichotomy between legitimate
high-art classical music performance
and popular music performance for
social dance and entertainment. As
professional musicians in the early
part of this century developed an
ethos as highly skilled legitimate artists, they faced a sudden split in the
field of music production in the
United States. Changes in the social
organization of music production led
American music making in new
directions. Professional popular
musicians applied their ethos to an
alternative set of music practices
from those of professional classical
musicians. The co-optation by the

DIFFUSION AND SYNCRETISM

classical music establishment of the

legitimacy of high art did not eliminate the shared ethos of professional
musicians that existed before this
split in American music. Although
the conventions of the popular music
market in the thirties and forties
constrained the performance aesthetics of professional popular musicians, they would continue to apply
their ethos of legitimate music making in the elaboration of a modern
jazz tradition.
This ethos as legitimate artists of
professional popular musicians continued to diffuse as larger numbers of
musicians entered this professional
culture during the swing big band
era of the thirties and forties. With
the recovery of the music market in
the middle thirties, a new boom in
popular music brought a younger
generation of musicians into this professional culture. These young swing
musicians would adopt the same
ethos as their elders. This younger
generation of swing musicians would
continue to develop a modern jazz
tradition. With the final collapse of
the big band dance market in the late
forties, this generation of professional musicians became the main
purveyors of the modern jazz tradition as a new commercially viable
market in jazz appeared in the fifties.
White and black professional
popular musicians in the first half of
this century shared a basic ethos as
well as the development of a modern
jazz tradition. They continued, however, to live their professional lives in
different social contexts. This was
first underscored by differences
between professional musicians in
the interpretive turn they applied to

29
legitimating their music practices.
Eileen Southern (1997) points out
that, after the turn of the century, a
nationalist agenda was part of many
black professional musicians music
making. This agenda involved both
the adoption of legitimate classical
music practices and the adoption of
folk and popular African American
music practices. Unlike that of their
white counterparts, black professional musicians quest for legitimacy had to challenge the distinct
and persistent subordination of
black culture. Samuel Floyd (1995)
argues that these musicians faced a
creative balance between the assimilation of European-based music practices and the affirmation of African
American music practices. This position of black professional musicians
contributed to their unique role in
the syncretism of jazz music.
Black professional musicians
were positioned in the creative center of reinterpreting and reinventing
jazz practices, yet they remained
peripheral to the financial and cultural gains that such innovations
provided professional musicians in
the United States. Black musicians
in the twenties, thirties, forties, and
fifties saw their innovations adopted
by white musicians, who then gained
far greater financial reward and cultural recognition than their black
brethren. This unequal distribution
in the rewards of cultural innovation
revealed a dynamic where the creative drive fostered by the quest for
legitimacy among black professional
musicians provided musical innovations to white professional musicians, who subsequently reaped the
benefits.

30

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

Beginning in the 1920s, when the

initial split between classical music
and popular music emerged, professional popular musicians began a
process of reinterpretation and reinvention that eventually led to a
new tradition in American music.
Expelled from the legitimacy of classical music making, professional
popular musicians applied their
ethos of legitimate music making to a
new set of music practices. Professional popular musicians, particularly black professional popular
musicians, were aware of their exclusion from the world of classical
music. The application of their professional ethos, therefore, also
became for many a quest to claim a
status equal to that of classical artists. In this quest, black professional
musicians played a central role in
creating a tradition that was an
alternative to classical music in
which professional popular musicians could lay claim to the legitimate status of high-art performers
and creators. The next section
describes how professional popular
musicians from the twenties through
the fifties transformed the value and
form of diverse music practices into a
new modern jazz tradition and a new
high-art aesthetic in American
music.
THE MODERN
JAZZ TRADITION

The development of a modern jazz

tradition began with the diffusion of
southern African American music
practices among professional urban
musicians. The term modern refers
to the paradigm shift that occurred

as jazz practices diffused from a folk

music culture into a professional
music culture with a distinctly different ethos. Once jazz practices were
adopted by this new professional culture, they entered a process of reinterpretation and reinvention. These
practices were transformed in value
when they became part of the legitimate music making of professional
popular musicians and part of these
artists elaboration of a new high-art
aesthetic in American music. The
transformation in form of jazz practices occurred when professional
popular musicians combined these
practices with popular music practices and classical music practices in
the creation of popular music. The
modern jazz tradition was a unique
syncretism of diverse music practices
and values within the culture of professional popular musicians.
The large migration of southern
blacks, particularly in the second
and third decade of this century, had
a profound impact on the culture of
professional musicians. The adoption of southern folk music practices
by urban musicians coincided with
the development of professional society orchestras. Black professional
musicians were the early adopters
and innovators in integrating southern folk practices. Black syncopated
society orchestras began slowly integrating these practices. The popular
jazz craze of the twenties led black
professional musicians to integrate
southern folk practices even further,
particularly with the increased performance of southern musicians in
society orchestras and in popular
jazz ensembles. White professional
musicians in the twenties also began

DIFFUSION AND SYNCRETISM

to adopt elements of the jazz practices of southern black musicians.

Many of the top black and white society orchestras in the twenties presented themselves as jazz orchestras. Black and white professional
musicians also began to perform in
small improvisational jazz ensembles, borrowing more directly from
the ensemble performance practices
of southern folk musicians.
The jazz society orchestras of the
twenties were the precursors to the
swing big bands of the thirties and
forties. Swing music was the culmination in the syncretism of the tonal
qualities, rhythm, song form, and
instrumental improvisation of southern folk music with the legitimate
instrumental techniques, instrumentation, popular song form, and
arranged composition used by professional musicians. This syncretism
was not simply the adoption of
folk practices to a given set of practices among professional musicians
in the twenties. Society orchestra
practices themselves were evolving
during this period. These orchestras
adopted classical symphonic practices through increasing the number
of performers, developing instrumental sections, and creating sectional and more elaborate arrangement of popular songs. Society
orchestras adapted these symphonic
practices to popular instrumentation, particularly the use of brass and
reed instruments, and popular Tin
Pan Alley song. The swing big band
was the culmination of professional
musicians reinventing elements of
folk music, popular music, and classical music into a new form of music
making.

31
The reinvention leading to swing
big band performance was driven in
part by the drive for legitimacy by
professional popular musicians.
Given the emerging split between
classical music and popular music,
the society orchestra became a vehicle for professional popular musicians, both black and white, to claim
high-art legitimacy. Concerts were
organized by both black and white
society orchestras. The early presentation of jazz as high art emphasized
the performance practices of society
orchestras in which some concerts
presented jazz ensembles and other
African American folk music as the
precursors to this musics elevation
to high art. This strategy culminated
in large symphonic jazz orchestras,
which emulated symphonic presentation in composition and arrangement, although this particular innovation never diffused as a common
strategy among professional popular
musicians. The general adoption
of classical symphonic practices by
society orchestras, however, was
linked to presenting the new society
orchestra as a legitimate mode of
performance.
The process of reinvention in society orchestras of the twenties ended
in the established conventions of big
band performance during the swing
era. Big bands were organized into
three basic sections with accompanying vocalists and a baton-waving
bandleader. The sections comprised
a reed section of four or five saxophones, a brass section of five or six
trumpets and trombones, and a
rhythm section of trap drums, string
bass, piano, and occasionally a guitar
or xylophone. The arrangement of

32

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

popular tunes continued to use the

harmonic and melodic potentials
between sections and within sections
developed by society orchestras in
the twenties. Swing arrangement
also included the use of short
improvisational breaks. Big bands
performed predominantly popular
songs accompanied by a vocalist with
some use of instrumental song.
These basic conventions remained
more or less consistent during the
swing era of the thirties and forties,
although some big bands did begin to
use a larger number of musicians in
the late forties.
The evolution of the big band
occurred in a parallel fashion among
white and black professional musicians. While existing in segregated
artistic cultures, these professional
musicians followed similar paths in
developing their society orchestras.
The general syncretism of music
practices toward the basic characteristics of big band performance was
the same. Swing music and swing
performance, however, constituted a
more specific stylistic development
in big band performance by black
professional musicians in the twenties. The distinction in swing was the
greater integration of southern African American folk practices in
rhythm, tone, and use of improvisation as well as a specific development
of arranged composition by black
professional musicians. Sweet big
bands during the swing era were big
bands that did not adopt the specific
stylistic developments of black swing
big bands. Swing music and swing
performance, however, were gradually adopted by larger numbers of
white professional musicians and

white big bands. By the end of the

thirties, a younger generation of
white professional popular musicians considered themselves swing
musicians.
While big bands performed within
the conventions of social dance and
popular song, big band performance
was still the legacy of a process of
reinvention that melded folk, popular, and classical practices. The
swing big band was a striking hybrid
of popular brass bands, popular society orchestras, symphonic orchestras, and jazz ensembles. The development of the big band, however, was
guided by a general symphonic strategy among professional popular
musicians. Their initial orientation
was to emulate symphonic orchestras in creating legitimate popular
music performance. Duke Ellington,
for example, continued a symphonic
strategy in jazz during the swing era
in the creation of extended compositions and the elaboration of new harmonies. Ellington, however, was the
rare exception and relied financially
on his work in social dance and popular song. The dominance of the conventions of social dance and popular
song in big band recordings and live
big band performance temporarily
ended this strategy among professional popular musicians.
A symphonic strategy in jazz did
reemerge in the late forties as white
professional popular musicians created compositions in the new style of
progressive jazz, which emulated latenineteenth-century and twentiethcentury classical composition. In
the fifties, third-stream jazz also
adopted this strategy. The reappearance of this strategy occurred during

DIFFUSION AND SYNCRETISM

the collapse of the big band dance

market in the late forties and early
fifties. Its reappearance demonstrates that, once the conventions of
social dance and popular song no
longer dominated big band performance, the eclectic aesthetic ethos of
professional popular musicians
again applied itself to a symphonic
strategy in big band performance.
In distinction to the symphonic
strategy, the improvisational strategy was a second path taken by professional musicians in elaborating a
modern jazz tradition. A legacy of the
popular jazz ensembles and jazz
pianists of the twenties, this strategy
among swing musicians in the thirties and forties relied more on the
practice of improvisation adopted
from folk jazz musicians. Swing
ensemble and solo performance
shared with swing big band performance the general syncretism found in
swing music, swing instrumentation, and the legitimate techniques of
professional musicians, but the folk
practice of improvisation became the
defining art of this strategy. In terms
of swing ensembles, their organization comprised a rhythm section
similar to that of big bands accompanied by one or more solo brass and
reed instruments. Both ensembles
and piano soloists emphasized a brief
rendition of the melody of a popular
song, followed by solo improvisation
over the song form, with ensembles
trading solos between musicians.
This improvisational strategy would
become the predominant mode of
performance in the modern jazz
tradition.
The improvisational strategy
reflected a fundamental shift in how

33
professional popular musicians
defined themselves as artists during
the swing era. While improvisation
was adopted by professional musicians in the twenties, a shift in the
professional ethos to emphasizing
this practice over the legitimate techniques of performing written scores
and arranging written compositions
did not occur until the swing era. The
adoption by professional swing musicians of a culture of improvisational
jamming was the foundation on
which this new ethos developed. In
informal settings and small commercial clubs, swing musicians, after
their regular work in big bands,
would gather to improvise. Swing
musicians developed improvisational techniques while also developing a professional ethos that emphasized improvisation as the highest
skill of their profession. Improvisation allowed professional musicians
to adopt the role of creative artist
more directly by centering appreciation on the creative improvisation of
an individual musician. Within the
swing culture, improvisation became
a new way for professional musicians
to claim their legitimacy as highly
skilled artists.
In this alternative space, free from
the constraints of the commercial big
band market, professional musicians
could apply a different set of conventions to popular performance. The
swing ensemble or piano soloist
became a vehicle for professional
musicians to construct a new highart aesthetic in jazz. Performing for
listening audiences in small jazz
clubs and recording for small independent jazz record labels, swing
musicians began formalizing a new

34

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

high-art aesthetic around improvisational performance in the late

thirties.
This new high-art aesthetic in
improvisational performance led a
younger generation of professional
swing musicians to adopt innovation
as part of their professional ethos.
For this new generation of swing
musicians, innovation represented
the creative autonomy associated
with high art in contrast to the limited creative role they associated
with commercial big band music.
Innovation as a central value in
this new high-art aesthetic was
important in continuing the process
of reinvention among professional
musicians.
Black professional musicians
were again the first stylistic innovators. Beginning in the late thirties, a
group of young black professional
musicians created a new style of
swing music called bebop that incorporated extended and chromatic harmonies as well as new rhythms.
Inspired by these early innovators,
many young white professional
musicians adopted the bebop style in
the forties. White professional musicians also began their own innovations in improvisational performance, culminating in the fifties with
the style of swing music called cool,
which borrowed from classical styles
from impressionist to modernist.
Both these modern styles in jazz
music were distinct not only in their
musical innovations but also in the
clearly high-art aesthetic adopted by
their practitioners.
The reinvention of music practices
in improvisational jazz focused

mostly on innovations in harmony

and compositional structure. The
basic instrumentation and performance practices remained the same,
although some musicians would
experiment in the instrumentation
and size of jazz ensembles. Improvisation remained the central practice
of ensembles and pianists. In the fifties, professional musicians would
continue stylistic changes in composition and harmony in improvisational jazz that incorporated popular
music, classical music, and nonWestern music.
The improvisational strategy and
the symphonic strategy were the
basic performance orientations of the
modern jazz tradition. Each strategy
involved a distinct approach to legitimating the popular music performance of professional musicians. Each
process also involved a significant
transformation in value and form of
folk jazz practices as they were
adopted by these musicians. An
ethos of professionalism among
popular musicians guided their forging of folk jazz practices with popular
and classical music practices.
CONCLUSION

The modern jazz tradition was the

product of a long process of reinterpretation and reinventiona unique
musical syncretism of folk, popular,
and classical music. This musical
syncretism reflected the social world
in which professional popular musicians in the United States created
music. As these musicians confronted changes in the social organization of music production in the first

35

DIFFUSION AND SYNCRETISM

half of this century, they adapted to

their new environments while continuing to pursue cultural legitimacy. While black and white musicians shared in this general quest,
black professional musicians played
the central creative role in elaborating a modern jazz tradition.
The reign of the professional musician in the popular music market
ended at mid-century. In the rockn-roll revolution of the fifties, a new
class of popular musicians occupied
center stage. This new popular musician was oriented to a different set of
music practices, adopted from blues
music, country music, and other folk
traditions. This musician did not
adopt the professional ethos of his
predecessors in popular music.
Changes in the social organization of
music production again shifted the
direction of American music and the
position of the professional musician.
A new culture of popular musicians
dominated the popular music market
and attracted a new generation of
popular music audiences.
While the culture of professional
musicians lost its hold on the popular
music market in the fifties, it found a
new place in a smaller jazz market.
This market of clubs, concerts, record
labels, and festivals provided the
financial support necessary for professional musicians to pursue their
new high-art aesthetic in jazz. Again
adapting to changes in the social
organization of music production,
professional popular musicians
finally achieved their goal of establishing their credentials as creators
of high art and challenging the exclusive claims of the classical music
establishment.

Notes
1. This article on syncretism in American
music is based on my research on the creation
of a jazz art world in the United States (Lopes
1994).
2. For a detailed discussion of the elite cooptation of high-art music, see DiMaggio 1982
and Levine 1988. The general establishment
of a separate organization of high-art production and consumption in the United States is
addressed by Levine 1988 and DiMaggio 1991,
1992.

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THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

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