Jazz in the early 1920s exploded with musicians like pianist Duke Ellington and brass player Louis Armstrong. These great performers improvised much of their music and even some of the lyrics. Louis Armstrong was also the first to use "scat" singing, a mix of non-sense sounds in place of lyrics. Jazz was loud, syncopated and emotional. King Oliver and his Creole Band were also an early influence to the style. He played for gangsters like Al Capone and "Lucky" Luciano on the south side of Chicago and blended many styles like "ragtime" marches and even some pop songs of the time.
Blues is a type of music that developed from African-American slave songs and was sung primarily by traveling musicians in the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana, the Piedmont region, and Texas. In 1920, "Crazy Blues" was recorded, making Mamie Smith the first African-American woman to record a blues song. More than a million copies of "Crazy Blues" were sold, and its success led to the introduction of "Race Records," which were records recorded by African-Americans and sold primarily in black neighborhoods in the 1920s and '30s. As African-American workers spread out across the country, the music evolved and followed them. It began to gain popularity with a more diverse audience. Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of Blues," became extremely popular in the mid-1920s. She was known for singing in the "Blues scale," a mournful and emotional sound that was limited to the jazz movement.
Swing music exemplifies the culture of the 1930s. This new style of jazz spread across America, thanks to dance-band leaders like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Swing appealed to people of all races and ages. Special dances, style of dress and even slang grew out of its hip, fast-paced style. Swing bands travelled the country. It became so popular that it is credited, not just as an influential music style, but as distinct generational culture.