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Prohibition and Organized Crime's effects on the Popularity of Jazz
Prohibition and organized crime in the 1920s and 30s fueled the popularity of jazz through speakeasies and records (in which jobs were provided by organized crime). There were many speakeasies providing a large number of jobs for jazz musicians run by organized crime. The sheer amount of speakeasies that popped up over time indicates jazz popularity growth. The fact that important organized crime leaders appreciated jazz music (especially Al Capone) and gave jazz musicians jobs indicates a growth in popularity of jazz. Also, the fact that the records of African American jazz in a time of segregation brought jazz to white people, leading some to listen and play it, shows a huge growth in popularity of jazz. Finally, the lucrative nature of speakeasies and other organized rackets demonstrates in part the popularity of jazz. Overall, prohibition created the want for alcohol that later created speakeasies and an environment where jazz fits in (countercultural). Organized crime made a business of this and jazz skyrocketed into popularity.

Speakeasies/Records
Formed as a result of the eighteenth amendment, speakeasies were places (often owned by organized criminals) where customers could drink alcohol and relax, or speak easy. Jazz was played in these speakeasies as a countercultural type of music to fit in with the illicit environment and events going on. Jazz artists were therefore hired to play at speakeasies. Al Capone, the famous organized crime leader, gave jazz musicians previously living in poverty a steady and professional income. A Renegade History of the United States states "The singer Ethel Waters fondly recalled that Capone treated her 'with respect, applause, deference, and paid in full.'" Also from A Renegade History of the United States, "The pianist Earl Hines remembered that 'Scarface [Al Capone] got along well with musicians. He liked to come into a club with his henchmen and have the band play his requests. He was very free with $100 tips.'" The illegal culture of speakeasies lead to what were known as "black and tan" clubs which had multiracial crowds. Jazz legends Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were both invited to play at white only clubs though they were both African American. Jazz was also shared to the white public through records. White jazz master Bix Beiderbecke learned jazz from records. He was a Cornet player with an unorthodox style of playing. There were many speakeasies, especially in Chicago and New York. New York had, at the height of Prohibition, 32,000 speakeasies. At speakeasies, both payoffs and mechanisms for hiding alcohol were used. Charlie Burns, in recalling his ownership of several speakeasies employed these strategies as a way to preserve he and Jack Kriendler's illegal clubs. This includes forming relationships with local police and firemen. Mechanisms that a trusted engineer created include one that when a button was pushed, tongue blocks under shelves of liquor would drop, making the shelves drop back and liquor bottles fall down a chute, break, and drain the alcohol through rocks and sand. An alarm also went off if the button was pushed to alert customers of a raid. Another mechanism used by Burns was a wine cellar with a thick door flush with the wall. It had a small almost unnoticable hole for a rod to be pushed in to activate a lock and open the door.

Rumrunning/Bootlegging
As to where speakeasies obtained alcohol, there were rumrunners and bootleggers. Rumrunning in this case was the organized smuggling of liquor by land or sea into the U.S.. Decent foreign liquor was high end alcohol during prohibition, and Bill McCoy had some of the best of it. Bill McCoy was in the rumrunning business, and at certain points of time was ranked among the best. To avoid being caught, he sold liquor just outside the territorial waters of the United States. Buyers would come to him to pick up his booze as a precaution for McCoy. McCoy's liquor specialty was selling high quality whiskey without diluting the alcohol. Bootlegging was making and or smuggling alcohol around the U.S.. As selling the alcohol could make plenty of money, there are several major ways this was done. One strategy used by Fankie Yale and the Genna brothers gang (both involved in organized crime) was to give poor Italian Americans alcohol stills to make alcohol for them at $15 per day's work. Another strategy was to just buy liquor from rumrunners. Racketeers would also buy closed breweries and distilleries to then hire former employees to make alcohol. Another person famous for organized crime named Johnny Torrio partnered with two other mobsters and legitimate brewer Joseph Stenson to make illegal beer in a total of nine breweries. Finally, some racketeers stole industrial grain alcohol and redistilled it to sell in speakeasies.

Organized Crime
Organized crime, which is generally self explanatory, is crime on a large scale with leadership and rank. Organized crime ran speakeasies and generally supported jazz. Piero Scaruffi states, "The gangsters who ruled the city [Chicago] were protectors of music, that was a necessity for their gambling, alcohol and prostitution rackets." The gangsters relied on the music and the musicians relied on the gangsters for income. Scaruffi also notes, "When jazz musicians arrived in Chicago, they were often employed by gangsters. Their first audience was the mob [mafia]." As mentioned earlier, Al Capone was an organized crime leader who appreciated jazz and used it as entertainment in his rackets. Capone made a large sum of money running these rackets, and jazz played a substancial role in them. So, the fact that at one point, Al Capone was earning an estimated $100 million per year from his rackets shows that jazz's popularity was growing. Even in 1930, Capone owned 6,000 speakeasies and made more than $6 million a week. Overall, the nightclub environment and featured jazz artists lead to millions in profits for the heads of organized crime.