the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy

Series produced by Guy Rathbun

Caption: Joe "King" Oliver
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.


627 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
The Wizards
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Chicago Hottentots
Traditional jazz began its road to sophistication in the mid 1920s with artists like Louie Armstrong, Albert Nicholas, Richard M. Jones, Johnny Dod...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 18, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Uptown Downtown
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: New York City night life
They may have been less than 10-miles apart, but New York City and Harlem were both vying for the top spot in jazz venues in the 1920s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 24, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Big Bands before the Big Band Era
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: pianist Edgar Hayes
Long before the era that became known as “Big Bands”, there were plenty of big bands. And, they were known to swing, too.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 01, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Some Like It Hot
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Edith Wilson
1929 was a pivotal time in the careers of Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. They had prominent roles in the off Broadway show, Connie’s Hot Chocolat...

Bought by WNMU-FM and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 06, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
Mardi Gras
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s Mardi Gras
It’s has been celebrated around the world for centuries, but in America, we commonly associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans.

Bought by Troy Public Radio, KMUW, KVNF, WCPN, and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 15, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 5
As Good As Gold
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: George Gershwin
It wasn’t just the stock market and industry that saw jaw-dropping increases in productivity. It was seen in music as well. Especially jazz.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 21, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Women in Jazz
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Lillian Armstrong
This program is devoted to the creative composers, vocalists and musicians who were so important in the early years of jazz.

Bought by KMUN, KVNF, and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 01, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Street of Song
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Alley
Think of New York City. What immediately comes to mind is Wall Street. In the 1920s it was also known as the hub of the music industry.

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 07, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Fields of Song
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Dorothy Fields
In the course of a remarkably long career, with successes from the 1920s into the 1970s, Dorothy Fields wrote some of the most enduring lyrics of t...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 14, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Fiddlin' Around
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jazz Fiddle
By the 1920s, the violin, or fiddle, had been dropped from most of America’s big bands. That didn’t deter musicians. They just kept inventing new a...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 22, 2018
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
The Bumpy Road to Love
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: A 1920s Broken Heart
Poets and troubadours have been writing and singing about it for centuries. The music of the 1920s is no different. This program features a selecti...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 29, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
An American Songbook
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Gershwin Songbook
This program is a sampling of the Smithsonian Institution’s best rated songs from 1916 to 1937. From Bessie Smith and Bix Beiderbecke to Bing Crosb...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 05, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
By Any Other Name
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Loring "Red" Nichols
Sometimes the band had more names than musicians. They also had more work than the average band in the 1920s. This program is selections of their l...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 12, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Crooners
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Gene Austin
In the latter 1920s the art of crooning became very popular. Male vocalists began performing their songs in a romantic, intimate, just-for-you styl...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 18, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sidemen
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Fletcher Henderson & his Orchestra
It isn't enough to be a good jazz musician. An instrumentalist must have a sense of pure teamwork inside a tapestry of improvisation.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 26, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Hoagy's Friends
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael is considered the most respected and appreciated composers of early jazz.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 03, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Hello Montreal
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s Prohabitionists
During prohibition train fare to Canada was considerably cheaper than dealing with the mob syndicate that controlled liquor distribution. Not only ...

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: May 24, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Jack & Pee Wee
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden and Pee Wee Russell: They each approached their music very differently. At the same time, that’s what made them similar.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 29, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Pied Pipers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Sidney Bechet
The most recognizable voices of early jazz are heard in this show, as well as some of their better known recordings.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 06, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Teacher & Student
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: James P. Johnson
Music from the father of Stride piano, James P. Johnson, and his prize student, Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller - 1928-1934.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 21, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1

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