BOOK REVIEW

“Dangerous Rhythms: Jazz and the Underworld”

By T. J. English

William Morrow•2022•448 pages•$29.99

Reviewed by Darcy Peters

The relationship between the criminal underworld and jazz has a long history vividly described in this book. The author gives an extremely well researched and fascinating historical journey through an often-murky association, which also includes politics and racism. T. J. English has published several other books about American crime, and this book is a great addition.

New Orleans, Louisiana, has long been thought of as the birthplace of jazz. The bawdy houses often played music to increase the overall experience. The often-opulent bordellos in Storyville offered some of the new music that became the beginnings of what we know as jazz. These establishments were mostly owned by white men and protected by criminals.

English traces the music to the next wild and woolly town, Kansas City, Kansas. The 1920s-era Prohibition proved that folks not only wanted to still drink but also desired to do so socially with music. Despite its illegality, local politicians and criminals owned the most popular establishments.

In Chicago, Illinois, jazz clubs were often owned by criminal elements, including Al Capone. Many of the gangsters of the day frequented the clubs they owned, and the musicians learned to keep quiet about anything they overheard. The bootlegging business could get mighty rough.

“The popularity of the hip flask turned out to be an example of how the lingo of the Prohibition era became the lingo of jazz,” English writes. “Among patrons in a club, if a person asked, ‘Are you hip?’ they were asking if the person was carrying booze on them. To be hip meant that you were in the know. And to be a hipster usually meant that you were a lover of jazz.”

Bootleggers often had problems with their shipments, and many of them began to smuggle dope, which was much more manageable. The gangs used the nightclub scene as a place to sell their drugs, and the musicians were definitely targeted.

The Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, was partially owned by gangsters, and, for a time, was the pinnacle for cabaret entertainment. English explains, “For a black entertainer to be employed at the Cotton Club, whether local Harlemite or young showgirl or jazzman from the hinterlands, was akin to being signed by the New York Yankees.” Popular clubs like the Copacabana moved the club scene to Manhattan, New York, where big bands played, and the crooners took center stage.

English writes of Frank Sinatra’s connections to the underworld, even though Sinatra publicly denied any relationships. Las Vegas, Nevada, was originally an unlikely spot for the citified gangster to set down roots, but there was money to be made for the various gangs. Sinatra’s residences in Vegas helped resurrect his lagging career.

The number of jazz clubs decreased in New York. When the mob owned and operated the clubs, they didn’t necessarily have to turn a profit since some of the clubs existed as a front or tax dodge for their underworld owners. English starts his story with this bon mot, “‘It’s got guts and it don’t make you slobber.’ A Chicago gangster explaining his love for jazz.”