Abstract
The tarantella is a southern Italian folk dance characterized by a fast and erratic compound rhythm. Derived from paganism, it has been vilified as barbaric in the predominantly Catholic northern regions of Italy for centuries. In the second half of the twentieth century, the tarantella experienced a revival in the United States, primarily as a result of the descendants of Southern Italian immigrants implementing the folk dance into their music. This paper will examine the music of Italian-American jazz trumpeter and vocalist Louis Prima, who was among the first to blend the tarantella with American popular music. Prima composed several “Italian novelty” songs that infused the tarantella into elements of jazz, while also writing lyrics about his Italian upbringing and singing in an exaggerated Italian accent. The majority of these songs were created shortly after World War II, when there was still a significant degree of anti-Italian sentiment in the United States. The manner in which Prima’s music protested this sentiment was unique: instead of attempting to glorify and legitimize his cultural heritage, he amplified Italian stereotypes through humorous self-deprecation. The popularity of Prima’s Italian novelties prompted a reevaluation of Italian culture in America, replacing images of violence with reverberations of joy.