Passing Tones: Shifting National, Social, and Musical Borders in Jazz-Age Harlem

Abstract

In the early 20th century, Harlem was alive with the sounds of jazz, calypso, and rhumba, brought by recent migrants from the Spanish Caribbean, West Indies, and the US South. Traditionally, scholars viewed these musics as distinct genres tied to specific socio-linguistic groups, but these divisions were not neutral. They were shaped by record labels, media, audiences, and musicians, and reinforced in jazz scholarship. Drawing on recent theaprization of ‘the border’ migration studies, I explore how New York dance orchestra musicians in the 1920s and 30s transcended musical and social boundaries. In particular, I show that African American, Latin, and Anglo-Caribbean musicians often played together, forming culturally diverse bands that capitalized on musicians’ ability to move within and between styles of music, often as part of the same night’s performance. This flexibility allowed them to navigate and adapt to different communities and performance contexts. These musicians’ stories suggest a new way to understand migrant music, seeing it not as a static expression of identity but as a dynamic tool for communication across cultures and social positions.

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