The Artists

Maxwell Street (photograph), City of Chicago, c. 1950

At the Maxwell Street market, blues musicians were a fixture through the 1950s. A bustling outdoor market where anything could be had for cash, Maxwell Street also provided an audience for blues musicians seeking to hone their craft. Playing outdoors, blues musicians realized that their instruments were not loud enough. They began using electric amplifiers with their instruments, using extension cords loaned by nearby businesses, who saw the street performances as good for business. This amplification led to the rise of what is called urban blues or Chicago blues, a new, electrified and amplified sound which was a direct precursor to rock n'roll. 

"This Girl Band is Much too Much With Swing and Jitter," Chicago Defender, June 15, 1940

Many well known big band leaders, like Benny Goodman, got their start in the Chicago jazz scene. Big band grew out of jazz, and touring big bands, like the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, featured in this news clipping from the Chicago Defender.

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were the first integrated all-women's swing band, and reached their peak of popularity in the 1940s. Initially associated with the Piney Woods Country Life School, the band went on tour in 1940 and afterwards, facing considerable discrimination in the Jim Crow South, where they broke laws against segregation. They frequently stopped in Chicago on their tours, most often performing at the Regal Theater.