In the 1930's, music was very boring. All that was playing in the clubs around the country was Big Band music, a dull form of jazz that left listeners wanting more of a beat and rhythm so that they could dance. The Great Depression had everyone worrying about their future, and people were begging for a kind of music that would make a statement about their struggles, speak to social issues, and make them happier. No one knew what to do, but in a leading club in Harlem, New York, music fans had all they could stand of Big Band music.

Starting in 1938, in The Cotton Club in Harlem, jazz and rhythm and blues fans started to rebel against the slow and painful strains of Big Band music. Every time a band like Tommy Dorsey or Benny Goodman started playing, a group of disgruntled music fans started to...