ABSTRACT
Minton's was just the sort of place jazz musicians liked. In 1941 the club's new musical director decided to hire a resident group or 'house band', but he also encouraged other jazz musicians to join in at jam sessions. Soon the club had acquired an amazing reputation. Some of the most famous jazz musicians, working regularly in the swing bands in other parts of New York, would pack up their instruments and rush up to Harlem as soon as their band dates or 'gigs' were over. Their big band jobs may have paid them well, but Minton's was much more fun, as musicians could solo freely there and not be worried by the strict arrangements of the big bands. So Minton's became something of a battleground, with the older, more traditional, musicians being challenged by a younger group, playing in the new modern style.
