TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
During Hollywood’s Golden Age—from the 1930s to the 1950s—jazz didn’t just play in the background. It shaped the mood, style, and swagger of American cinema.
Big bands set the soundtrack for swing-era musicals, while smoky jazz clubs became the go-to setting for noir films full of shadows and suspense. Think of Duke Ellington’s haunting score for Anatomy of a Murder or how saxophone solos became a sonic shorthand for danger, romance, or rebellion.
Jazz also launched careers on screen—Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Cab Calloway appeared in films that brought their charisma to mainstream audiences, even when racial barriers limited their roles.
Jazz gave Hollywood rhythm, edge, and cool—and it’s still scoring stories.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio. , made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.