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Orkester Journalen 1933-1939, jazzens självständighet och en svensk jazzelit

Abstract

Writing Jazz: Orkester Journalen 1933-1939. The Autonomy of Jazz and a Swedish Jazz Elite
The Swedish magazine Orkester Journalen was established in 1933 and soon became a strong herald for jazz music. This article deals with how the magazine was used in the thirties in order to establish jazz as a separate and autonomous field. One strategy was to express and explain the specific aesthetics of jazz: at the time, swing, the specific instrumentation, and improvisation were all promoted as central to the aesthetic. Furthermore, the shortcomings of the contemporary newspaper critics and thus the importance of the magazine and its specialised writers were emphasised. Also, attention was deflected from the orchestra leaders (who were the focus of the first issues) and towards the individual musicians as embodying particular jazz qualities. In this process, the magazine took part in forming a Swedish jazz elite, by choosing what musicians to write about, by writing educational articles and reviews, and acting as judges in amateur competitions. Here, musicians gave authoritative statements on how and what to play, but they also expressed their standpoints on the role of jazz and jazz musicians in relation to classical music – which was a way of mediating statements from over-enthusiastic fans that could disturb the jazz musicians’ claims to legitimacy in society at large.