the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Series produced by Guy Rathbun
Joe "King" Oliver
A weekly program of Music and Stories for "The Jazz Age."
Across the spectrum of pop and jazz from the late teens to the early 1930s, this weekly series from the Club McKenzie invites you the share in the talents and tales of the musicians and performers that created an unforgettable era.
624 Pieces
Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon began his career on the Vaudeville stage at the age of 15. His influence may have been show business, but he artfully inc...
Bought by KCBX
Chicago in the 1920s was a pivotal point for jazz. A number of changes were being incorporated into the music birthed in New Orleans, and the Austi...
Bought by WDCB and KCBX
Several of the songs heard in this program were never sold over the counter. If you knew the artist, you’d have to request it from the clerk, who w...
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This is a selection of hits from the Broadway stage and the movies in the 1920s and early ‘30s. But, there's one sleeper
Bought by KCBX
This is a showpiece for today’s musicians performing music of the 1920s coupled with the original artists.
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Jazz didn’t emerge from a vacuum. It was an amalgamation of several musical forms including blues, skiffle, the call and response, vaudeville, and ...
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This is a look at four inventive musicians who pioneered the early stages of jazz: Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Colman Hawkins and Frankie T...
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By the mid 1920s jazz was established as the primary popular music in America. But, the musicians were not satisfied with just being on top. They h...
Bought by WDCB and KCBX
As Big Band Swing began to fade in popularity, the musicians of the 1920s saw their chance at reviving their music.
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During the early years of jazz, vocalists had to experiment with the best way to compliment musicians that specialized in improvisation and counter...
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Before the 1920s it was almost unheard of for female vocalists to record popular music. That is unless they were singing a number from their Broadw...
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Louis Metcalf was an inventive jazz cornet and trumpet artist best remembered for his short stint with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1927.
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By 1930 Irving Mills had the world on a string. His music publishing business was booming, and he began to expand his control over his musicians.
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He may not have been much of a musician, but Irving Mills was enough of an entrepreneur to understand the value of popular music. Jazz was its name.
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Sleepers: Those wonderfully talented band of the last 1920s who were kept in the dark. Somehow, despite their inventiveness, they never reached a l...
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When Okey Records approached Louis Armstrong with the idea of forming his own studio band to bring hot jazz to the American public, Louis jumped at...
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In 1931, a fresh new band recorded its first four sides at the Victor Studios, New York City. This young band dared to buck the trend by playing ho...
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Memphis Tennessee became a musical Mecca in the 1920s, and Beale Street was its center. W.C. Handy was arguably the most influential composer sprea...
Bought by KMUW and KCBX
The earliest jazz big bands had swing, yet they are not considered part of the “Swing Era.” Part of the reasoning behind that is simply the need to...
Bought by KMUN and KCBX
The all-star battery mates, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang met in high school. Both were violinist, but Eddie eventually switched to guitar. They became...
Bought by KMUW, KCBX, and KCBX
