Harlem image via Wikipedia
Musical Assumptions links to an interesting map of night clubs in 1930s Harlem (double click to zoom in).
Wikipedia on band leader and arranger Don Redman, who is mentioned on the map:
His importance in the formulation of arranged hot jazz can not be overstated; a chief trademark of Redman's arrangements was that he harmonized melody lines and pseudo-solos within separate sections; for example, clarinet, sax, or brass trios. He played these sections off each other, having one section punctuate the figures of another, or moving the melody around different orchestral sections and soloists. His use of this technique was sophisticated, highly innovative, and formed the basis of much big band jazz writing in the following decades.
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