That Toddlin’ Town: Chicago’s White Dance Bands And Orchestras, 1900-1950

That Toddlin’ Town looks at the history of the white dance bands, theater orchestras, radio studio ensembles, and nightclub bands.
Charles Sengstock examines these bands not only in terms of the music they played but also in the context of the venues in which they performed and Chicago’s volatile economic and social climate. Viewing the bands as an economic system, he analyzes them as businesses with all the usual pressures brought on by ambition, personality clashes, and the overriding need to serve clients.