Jews and Jazz – a Talk by Yale Strom
This lecture explores the complex cultural and economic intersections between Jewish and African American musicians in the development of jazz and blues in twentieth-century America. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, both communities occupied marginalized positions within a predominantly WASP-dominated society in which access to many professions was limited by formal quotas, informal barriers, and entrenched prejudice. At the same time, popular entertainment – often regarded by mainstream society as morally suspect or socially inferior – remained one of the few arenas where talented outsiders could find opportunity.
For many Jews, particularly those from immigrant and working-class backgrounds, and for African Americans confronting systemic poverty and segregation, music offered a rare path to economic mobility, artistic expression, and public recognition. Jazz and blues became especially fertile spaces for cross-cultural collaboration. During the swing era, Jewish bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw famously integrated their ensembles, performing with African American musicians including Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton at a time when racial segregation remained the norm in American public life.
When : Sunday, September 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m.– 12:30 p.m. PT / 12:00–1:30 p.m. MT / 1:00–2:30 p.m. CT / 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET
Where : Online
Cost :
Early bird : $20 (if registered before September 6, 2026)
Regular admission : $25
Speaker:
Yale Strom (violin) is one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music and history. With a master’s degree in Yiddish Studies, he has conducted extensive ethnographic research across Eastern Europe on Jewish and Romani musical culture.
His fieldwork shaped the repertoire of his klezmer band Hot Pstromi and informed his work directing 10 award-winning documentary films, including The Last Klezmer (Oscar short-list).
Strom has written 15 books and two award-winning audio dramas, recorded 20 CDs, and presented numerous photo exhibitions in North America and Europe. His latest documentary, Recordially Yours: Lou Curtiss (2023), explores the life of San Diego audiophile-ethnomusicologist Lou Curtiss; he is currently developing a musical on Marc and Bella Chagall. Strom was Artist-in-Residence in Jewish Studies at San Diego State University (2006–2020). He now teaches in the Music Department and previously taught at New York University. His first historical novel, The Autobiography of the Offenbacher, will be published in 2026.
Please see our Events Calendar and Other Upcoming Events!