The Broadway musical theater scene in New York City experienced a golden age in the 1920s, when over 50 new shows were produced annually. Musical theater is a stage play where songs -- also known as show tunes -- drives the story plot. One reason for musical theater's prosperity in the '20s was the legal triumph of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Poets, or ASCAP, in 1924, which allowed composers more liberties on controlling their compositions. Some of the more popular musical theater composers from the '20s to the '40s were George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter. Broadway lyricists wrote lyrics to accompany the musicals' tunes. Oscar Hammerstein II, Ira Gershwin and Lorenz Hart were successful musical theater lyricists during this era.
The Roaring Twenties spawned a generation of jazz musicians and singers who would entertain the world from the '20s through the '40s. The '20s saw the rise race record sales; race records featured African-American artists and music. Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines were two legendary jazz musicians who emerged from the race records movement. Duke Ellington's European tour during the '30s spawned the rise of jazz music in Europe. The major U.S. epicenters for jazz from the '20s to the '40s was New York City, Chicago and New Orleans.
Although the Great Depression was hard on jazz musicians in the '30s, this decade produced a new jazz sound known as swing music, which originated from the dance halls in Harlem, New York. Over 50 million swing music records were sold throughout the '30s. Swing music also inspired new dance crazes in the 1930s, including the Lindy Hop -- also known as the jitterbug -- Little Peach, Susy Q. and the Shag. Swing musicians also developed strong fan bases and large attendances at their concerts. This genre of music also caused Caucasian Americans to listen to jazz-style music for the first time.
Another sub-genre of jazz was big band music. Big band was essentially the enlargement of small jazz ensembles to multi-member bands. The official title of a big band was often named after the band leader, who was usually the band's conductor and songwriter. Fletcher Henderson was given credit for beginning the big band sound in the '20s. Other popular band leaders during this time were Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. Big bands usually have trumpet, rhythm, trombone and saxophone sections.