The
swing era (also frequently referred to as the "big band era") was the period of time (around 1935–1946) when
big band swing music was the most popular music in the
United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as
Duke Ellington,
Jimmie Lunceford,
Bennie Moten,
Cab Calloway, and
Fletcher Henderson, and white bands from the 1920s led by the likes of
Russ Morgan and
Isham Jones. The era's beginning is sometimes dated from “the King of Swing”
Benny Goodman's performance at the
Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on August 21, 1935, bringing the music to the rest of the country. 1930s also became the era of other great soloists: the
tenor saxist Coleman Hawkins and
Chu Berry; the alto saxists
Benny Carter and
Johnny Hodges; the drummers
Gene Krupa,
Cozy Cole and
Sid Catlett; the pianists
Fats Waller and
Teddy Wilson; the trumpeters
Roy Eldridge,
Bunny Berigan, and
Rex Stewart.