“Stardust” (PDF) from the Frank Rosolino album, Free For All

While The Great Migration of American workers toward northern industrial cities may have spread the popularity of jazz music throughout the States - showcasing skilled labor and culture in nightclubs and speakeasies - it was through the efforts of pianist and lawyer Hoagy Carmichael, along with the music publishing family of Irving Mills, that transformed an original Black artform into a household commodity. In his book The Jazz Standards, historian Ted Gioia suggests that the performance and mechanical royalties from “Star Dust” alone could provide an individual with financial stability, even by twenty-first century metrics.

Born and raised in Indiana, Carmichael could not have avoided the influence of Chicago-style jazz if he had tried - in fact, he sought it out by studying with the “Rhythm King” pianist Reginald DuValle. And his collaborations with Bix Beiderbecke - a trumpet player from Davenport, Iowa, who grew up listening to musicians on Mississippi riverboats and followed them to Chicago - appear to have influenced the melodic composition of “Star Dust.” From the comfort of his own backyard, Hoagy Carmichael had enough success from the published recordings of “Star Dust” to keep him employed as a songwriter through the Great Depression, eventually graduating to stage and screen productions - all while buses full of big bands toured across the highways, struggling with addiction and work permits in the big city.

It’s the kind of stuff that dreams are made of in America.

Here is a YouTube video of an alternate transcription of this recording:

Recommended reading: The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire by Ted Gioia. Published by Oxford University Press.