Jews in jazz

[1] Tunes by Jewish composers such as George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin and many others predominate among the 'Great American Songbook' compositions that have become jazz standards.

[6] In the 1920s and 1930s, George Gershwin and others deliberately minimized their Jewish identity at a time when Jews were not fully accepted as Americans, instead attempting to create musical version of an inclusive America.

[7] In the 1940s and 1950s, Mezz Mezzrow, Symphony Sid, Red Rodney, and Roz Cron experimented with black identity in various ways.

Concert promoter and record producer Norman Granz and Barney Josephson, who opened the first integrated night club Café Society, broke down barriers of segregation.

His appearances and big band remote radio broadcasts from such landmark venues as Chicago's Palmer House, Broadway's Paramount Theater, the Copacabana nightclub[14] and the Starlight Roof at the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel entertained audiences with a uniquely elegant musical style which remained popular with audiences for nearly three decades from the 1930s until the late 1950s.

Mike Gerber has written extensively on this, covering such figures as Barney Josephson, Irving Mills, Joe Glaser, Milt Gabler, Alfred Lion, Francis Wolff, Milt Gabler, Herman Lubinsky, Teddy Reig, Orrin Keepnews, Lester Koenig, Max and Lorraine Gordon, Norman Granz and George Wein.

[8] Kitty Kallen, of Russian Jewish descent, excelled in big band jazz and pop, earning the 1954 title of most popular female singer.

Georgia Gibbs, criticized for cultural appropriation, found success in big bands and ventured into rock and rhythm and blues.

Barbara Carroll, recognized by critic Leonard Feather as the first female bebop pianist, played piano and sang in trios.

Teddi King, known for her sensitive lyric interpretation, collaborated with prominent musicians like Beryl Booker and Nat Pierce.

Second-wave feminism prompted economic control, as seen with Madeline Eastman and Kitty Margolis founding Mad Kat Records.

Pianists Myra Melford, Michele Rosewoman, Marilyn Crispell, and Annette Peacock pushed boundaries with avant-garde and free-form jazz.

Internationally, Flora Purim, born in Brazil, recorded with jazz legends, while Russian-born Israeli artists Julia Feldman and Sophie Milman garnered acclaim in various music styles.