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.


624 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Bix Beiderbecke & Frankie Trumbauer
The dynamic duo work of cornet Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer was one of the greatest in early jazz. Their first recording dates...

  • Added: Aug 15, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
Caption: 1920s dancers
Remember Dick Powell the actor? How about Dick Powell the jazz banjo player? He’s just one of many obscure early jazz performers heard in this pro...

  • Added: Aug 21, 2012
  • Length: 58:55
Caption: Sterling Clarinet, Credit: http://www.clarinetpages.net
Among the many names adopted for the clarinet during the early years of jazz, the “noodle” is possible the most catchy. Feature are Johnny Dodds, B...

Bought by WDCB


  • Added: Aug 28, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Willie "the Lion" Smith
He was a master ”Tickler”. Stride piano is the term attached later to a specific rhythmic style where the left hand follows the pattern of the rig...

  • Added: Sep 07, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: Art Hodes
Some of the earliest Blue Note recording sessions featured the trumpet of Sidney DeParis, clarinet of Edmund Hall, and piano of Art Hodes. They ca...

  • Added: Sep 14, 2012
  • Length: 58:52
Caption: Segar Ellis
Ellis was first a jazz pianist and later jazz vocalist who recorded numerous sides with the Dorsey Brothers, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and many other...

  • Added: Sep 21, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: The Missourians
They were known as the big band of the 1920s who sounded a little “country.” Not because they were from Nashville, nor did they have a twang in th...

Bought by KMUN


  • Added: Sep 27, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Canal Street, New Orleans
The legend of musician Buddy Bolden has stretched well beyond the city limits of New Orleans. Whether or not half of the stories are true, really d...

Bought by WRGY and Troy Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 06, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Wolverines with Min Leibrook, sax
In the earliest jazz bands of the 1920s, the baritone and bass saxophones were relegated to the rhythm section, the bass line. But everything bega...

  • Added: Oct 11, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
Caption: Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders record label
California’s influence on early jazz is not a trifling matter. Several musicians emerged from the Golden State to lustrous careers.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 16, 2012
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Andy Kirk & his Clouds of Joy
Bandleader Andy Kirk gave up his post office carrier in 1925 to try his hand in music. He showed talent on the saxophone and tuba, but it evolved t...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 22, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Apex Club
The Apex Club was raided by federal agents and closed for selling alcohol during Prohibition in 1930. Just before that fateful day, New Orleans nat...

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Oct 25, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Cole Porter
American icon Cole Porter learned piano and violin at age six. He became very good at both, but he disliked the violin's harsh sound and so his ene...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 02, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Miff Mole & Red Nichols
Trombonist Miff Mole and trumpeter Red Nichols, two highly talented jazz musicians, met in New York in the early 1920s. Together they prefected wh...

Bought by WNCU and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Jack Pettis
Saxophonist Jack Pettis was a pioneer in the introduction of the C-Melody in the early 1920s. According to tenor Bud Freeman, he was the king, and ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 21, 2012
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Thomas "Fats" Waller
Thomas “Fats” Waller was known for his comedic style vocals, and his feverish motions of left hand creating a profound pattern of “Stride” piano, b...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 30, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Bix Beiderbecke
During Bix Beiderbecke’s years of recording, there were literally hundreds of sound-alike trumpeters and cornet players. They all wanted to sound l...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 06, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Butterbeans & Susie
Jody and Susie Edwards were apparently married on stage at the Standard Theatre, Philadelphia. They went on perform for several decades billing th...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 13, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: "42nd Street" by Warren
Composer Harry Warren is best remembered for the music he wrote for Judy Garland, and the musicals, 42nd Street and The Gold Diggers, however, long...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 19, 2012
  • Length: 58:55
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Happy New Year 1920s
Some of the best music from the 1920s with Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Bix Beiderbecke, and many more to welcome in the New Year.

Bought by KRZA, KHEN-LP, and KCBX


  • Added: Dec 26, 2012
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 3