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.


604 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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
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
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
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
Chicago School
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Austin High School Gang
Although there really wasn’t a “School” for jazz musicians in 1920s Chicago, you wouldn’t convince the young Chicagoans intent on learning the new ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 11, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Legendary Clarinetists
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jimmy Noone
This program visits Chicago's South Side in the latter 1920s to hear three of the leading proponents of jazz clarinet.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 04, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
1929 New Year's Festival
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Poster for New Year's Eve 1928
By the time 1929 rolled around, jazz had become America's popular music.

Bought by Northeast Indiana Public Radio, KMUW, and KCBX


  • Added: Dec 28, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
The Jazz Vocal
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Alberta Hunter
Early jazz vocalists had to create something quite different. A voice that matched the multi layered instruments they were accompanying.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 21, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Traveling North
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Chicago "L" Transit 1920s poster
When the U.S. Navy decided to close the infamous Storyville in New Orleans in 1917, hundreds of musicians were suddenly without gainful employment.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 13, 2017
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Half Pint
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon
Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon was a leading exponent of the blend between Vaudeville and Jazz in the latter 1920s and early ‘30s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 06, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
A Jazz Odyssey part 3
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Buddy Bolden
This is a trek through the streets of New Orleans of the 1920s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 29, 2017
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
A Jazz Odyssey: Part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Johnny Bayersdorffer & his Orchestra
If it weren’t for the early mobile recording studios created by RCA, Columbia and Okey records, many of the original New Orleans musicians would ne...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 21, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
A Jazz Odyssey
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Piron's New Orleans Orchestra 78 RPM
This program is a trek into the streets of New Orleans and the earliest days of jazz.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 30, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Boundaries Please
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Traveling Musician
So many musicians with loads of talent seldom ventured beyond their own boundaries. Here's a sampling of the riches of the 1920s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 25, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Don't Cross That Line
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Pack the bags
There are so many talented musicians seldom heard simple because they didn’t perform or record in New York city, Chicago or Kansas City. That didn...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 18, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Bricktop Part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Bricktop
"I was always fascinated with saloons. As a kid on State Street in Chicago, I was always running under the swinging doors." - Bricktop

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 12, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Bricktop
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Bricktop
Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith referred to herself as a performer and saloonkeeper. Needless to say, that’s an understatement.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 04, 2017
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Anything Goes
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s Entertainment
Since there were no rules about where jazz fit into the scheme of popular music in the 1920s, every imaginable fell into the grand experiment. Basi...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 28, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Give Me a Break
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
The origin of the “break” as it was used in early jazz was probably borrowed from dancers of the early 19th century.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 21, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Who Defined Jazz?
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Blind Willie Dunn a.k.a. Eddie Lang
Today, there's jazz-fusion, jazz-rock, jazz-rap. It's an endless list. Jazz has a distinct style with it's own elements.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 13, 2017
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1

Playlists That Feature This Series: