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.


594 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Digging for Gold
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: ODJB
With jazz coming on the scene in the 1920s, composers began reaping big rewards. The public simply couldn’t get enough of the new music, and anyone...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 01, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Great Collaborations
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Coon Sanders Nighthawks
When pianist Earl Hines was added to any band, they seemed to quickly excel. When Don Redman or Bill Challis became the arranger for any orchestra,...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 25, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Migrating East
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Missourians
After leaving New Orleans in 1917, some brief stops in St. Louis and Kansas City, jazz musicans landed in Chicago. From there, many of them moved o...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 18, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sax Appeal
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s Saxophonists
The saxophone was invented in the early 1800s, but wasn’t well received until the early 1900s. Then it became a staple in jazz. The most influentia...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 11, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Footloose
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Charleston sheet music
Let’s see … Foxtrot, Black Bottom, Shimmy, Charleston, The Baltimore, Lindy Hop (previously, Texas Tommy), Turkey Trot, One-step, Shimmy, and later...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 03, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
A String of Pearls
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jelly Roll Morton
In the latter 1920s, jazz enthusiasts began to hear a very different style introduced into their favorite music. Although the overall sound remaine...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 27, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Musical Review
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Shuffle Along 1924
The best way to have your music heard in the 1920s was to present it on stage, on or off Broadway. Selling sheet music goes just so far, and radio ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 14, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Talking Trumpet
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Cootie Williams
Musical instruments have been used for creative imagery as long as anyone can remember, so it’s not surprising that jazz ushered in a new and color...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 07, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Suitcase & Woodblocks
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Warren "Baby" Dodds
The evolution of jazz traps that accompanied the drums began in about 1880, no one knows for sure …however the first recorded evidence is not heard...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 30, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Who's Back There?
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Bessie Smith
As jazz evolved, musicians began experimenting with improvisation behind the vocalist. Band members wanted their accompaniment to sound as fresh an...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 16, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The New Yorkers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Back Room, NYC
Jazz officially moved into the Big Apple in 1917 with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. But it wasn’t until the music began to blend with Tin Pan A...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 09, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
From the Grand Terrace: Earl Hines
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Earl Hines
In the late 1920s Chicago was the broadcast center of America. And, the name Earl Hines became synonymous with jazz. He was the pianist and bandlea...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 01, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Pied Pipers of Chicago
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Omer Simeon
This program features three musicians, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone and Omer Simeon. All three cut their teeth in New Orleans musical circles, and the...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 25, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
A Turning Point
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
Both Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong entered the professional music scene in the early 1920s. Both favored traditional jazz with its roots in New O...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 18, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Banjo Ikey
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: My Four Reasons 78 RPM
Multi instrumentalist Isaac Robinson became well known in the 1920s. His talents and virtuosity placed him in high demand from musicians like Jelly...

Bought by KVNF and KCBX


  • Added: Apr 09, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Melodiously Half Way: Frankie Trumbauer
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Frankie Trambauer
In size and tone, the C-melody Saxophone is half way between its cousins -- tenor and alto. Once you’ve heard it in the creative hands of Frankie T...

Bought by KVNF and KCBX


  • Added: Apr 04, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
A Paramount Pianist: Chicago's South Side
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: James Blythe
Chicago musician Jimmy Blythe was well respected by his peers. He had a feel for jazz very few could equal. By the time he was 22, he had cut sever...

Bought by KVNF and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 27, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Corn on the Cobb: Chicago's South Side
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Junie Cobb
This program is the epitome of early jazz heard in the Windy City’s South Side featuring multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Junie Cobb.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 20, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Jabbo & Reuben
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jabbo Smith
Two overlooked musicians in the 1920s … Jabbo Smith and Reuben Reeves … cornet and trumpet.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 13, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Puddle Jumpers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1927 Auto in mud
In the 1920s, it was a major task for a band, without a lot of money, to tour the country and line up a recording studio date. If they travel by au...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 07, 2019
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1

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