Sound and technology
Amplification and magnetic-tape experiments changed the balance between instruments and the studio.
ERA · KNOWLEDGE GUIDE
1940s
Explore 1940s through technology, music industries, regional scenes and representative recordings—and hear why this decade differs from those around it.
- Recordings
- 84
- Albums and releases
- 48
- Regions
- 2
THE DECADE IN CONTEXT
What happened in this decade?
War, migration and recording bans disrupted the industry as bebop, rhythm and blues and amplified instruments pointed toward postwar music.
People and circulation
Wartime movement and changing economics encouraged small clubs, independent labels and compact groups.
Listen by comparing
Compare a big-band arrangement with a bebop small group and listen for who controls the musical conversation.
Bebop emergedElectric guitar entered more ensemblesIndependent labels multiplied
The decade's key question
Why did small groups and individual improvisation become more important?
Wartime limits and the cost of big bands made small groups easier to organize. In clubs and jam sessions, bebop musicians developed fast lines, complex harmony and individual vocabularies that depended on close interaction.
MAJOR GENRES
Major genres of the decade
AROUND THE WORLD
Sounds from different regions
ARTISTS
Representative artists
Artist·Bebop
Wardell Gray
Artist·Bebop
Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
Artist·Rhythm and Blues
Lionel Hampton Sextet
Artist·Rhythm and Blues
Dinah Washington
Artist·Bebop
Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra
Artist·Country
Roy Acuff
Artist·Classical / Art Music
Amparo Iturbi
Artist·Classical / Art Music
George Gershwin
Artist·Classical / Art Music
José Iturbi
LISTENING PATH
Hear the decade through these recordings
REFINE THIS VIEWFilter recordings from the 1940s
Genre and region are combined; only options with recordings from the 1940s are shown.
01Blue Champagne1944 · Korean Trot · fox trotOpen in new tab 02Don’t Be That Way1944 · Korean Trot · fox trotOpen in new tab 03Whispers in the Dark1943 · Korean Trot · fox trotOpen in new tab 04Clair de Lune1943 · Korean Trot · fox trotOpen in new tab 05I’m Making Believe1944 · Korean Trot · fox trotOpen in new tab
ALBUMS
Representative albums and releases
DECADE GRAPH
View relationship graph1940s relationship map
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