Savoy Swing
takes its name from the Savoy Ballroom, a legendary swing music
venue in Harlem, New York from 1926 until 1948. The Savoy Ballroom
occupied the entire block of 140th to 141st street on Lenox Avenue.
The Savoy, known as the " Home of Happy Feet, " quickly
became the most popular dance venue in Harlem. Many of the jazz
dance crazes of the 1920s and 1930s originated there including
the Lindy Hop, which became the "jitterbug." The Savoy
Ballroom was seminal in the development of "swing" music.
The Savoy management often staged a "Battle of the Bands"
which pitted some of the best known bands against each other.
The bands included Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie,
Fletcher Henderson, Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, and many other
big name bands of the day.
|