Music and Rhythm
- Place of Publication: Chicago, IL
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1940-1942
- Periodicity: Generally monthly
- Editors: Carl Cons & Paul Eduard Miller
- Publishers: The Music and Rhythm Publishing Company
- Type: Full Text
Music and Rhythm was a short-lived, sensationalistic publication. Published monthly, issues averaged some 100 pages until the entry of the United States into the Second World War, at which time issues were reduced to some 50 pages each. Created by Down Beat but published independently, Music and Rhythm shared many writers with its parent publication but took a more eye-grabbing, sometimes lurid editorial approach.
The editor, Paul Eduard Miller (1902-1972), was a staff writer for Down Beat who became a contributing editor there and wrote prolifically in the 1930s and 1940s. Although fan of traditional jazz, especially Sidney Bechet, in Music and Rhythm he published a wide range of articles on swing, big bands, and the major personalities of the day. Many of the writings are characterized by attention-grabbing headlines, shock quotations, posed questions, and often focus on band leaders, musicians, singers, and Hollywood personalities. Beginning with the April 1942 issue, Miller was replaced with Down Beat editors Carl Cons, John Hammond, and Dave Dexter, Jr.
Issues are richly illustrated, with photographs of musicians and singers; most covers feature a female singer in a suggestive or alluring pose. Much of the writing is clearly written for a male audience with frequent sexist or misogynistic overtones, themes often reflected also in published cartoons. The burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee appears multiple times and publishes a humorous poem “Stravinsky to Minsky” in the November 1941 issue. Issues surrounding newly-instituted conscription and the growing Second World War appear throughout.
Record reviews are contributed by Miller along with other writers from the Down Beat roster, including Dave Dexter, Jr. and George Frazier. Many articles by musicians are published, including leaders such as Benny Goodman, Paul Whiteman, Fletcher Henderson, Glenn Miller, and Artie Shaw, in addition to prominent big band and swing musicians.
Music and Rhythm ceased after the August 1942 issue.
"With its lurid headlines and daring (for the early 1940s) 'cheesecake' photography, Music and Rhythm was clearly intended as a commercial venture. Its general tone was sensational. The original editor, Paul Edward Miller, doubled as record reviewer; he was succeeded by Carl Cons, earlier of Down Beat, in 1941. Music and Rhythm featured articles, genuine and ghostwritten, by a large number of popular jazz and swing musicians, including Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Jack Teagarden, and Cootie Williams. Sharon Pease’s transcriptions of recorded piano solos are also of interest."
Jazz Periodicals: 1930-1970, Greenwood Press,
Center for Research Libraries (1977)