Did the musicians drive the development of swing, and Jazz in general, or did the dancers play an independent, crucial role which at times would involve driving the development of the music aspect? This has been a much debated issue and although it seems that the majority opinion these days gives primacy to the bands, arguments and evidence to the contrary remains unanswered. Another explanation asserts that the musicians and dancers shared the leading role in that they alternatively pushed or were pulled. The common concern being the improvisational development of rhythm, and this they did interactively.

The Savoy experience providence a great deal of evidence as to just how interactive the ballroom's musicians and dancers really were. Marshall Stearns picked up on both strands as it were, and possibly if he had of lived long enough, after writing his classic books on Jazz Music and Jazz Dance he would have gone on to write another about how these two major modes of jazz expression interacted. Unfortunately he never had the chance to, and no one else has managed to do that either so far.

It can't be emphasised enough that the Savoy was the location where the best dancers encountered the best music and thus promising things were just bound to happen. It is important that anyone wanting to get to grips with this subject area ignores the conventional academic divisions that tend to look at either “dance” or “music” separately. However it is helpful at this stage if a specific look is taken at the musical side of the Savoy 's Swing equation in order to establish how this side of the operation worked. In the first instance this means making a distinction between “guest” and “house” bands. Attention is also paid to the many well known vocalists in whose career the Savoy played a prominent role.