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.


619 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Fess Williams
America’s original musical creation, jazz, had quite a number of influences, but one of those, at least today, is ignored. You might say it was the...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 02, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Louis Armstrong
The World on a String: During the peak of “The Jazz Age,” a handful of musicians captured the imagination of an adoring public.

Bought by KREV-LP and KCBX


  • Added: May 25, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Merle Johnston
This program can also be titled "Unusual Patterns in Jazz."

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: May 18, 2016
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Don Redman
Two of the most influential arrangers in early big band jazz were Don Redman and Bill Challis.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 11, 2016
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Stompin'
The evolution of "The Stomp" goes back several hundred years,but when jazz began incorporating the phrase into the music, it took on a completely d...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 05, 2016
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Bud Freeman
Although jazz bands were performing swing long before the “Swing Era” officially started, you don’t want to tell the musicians before that time tha...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: On Campus
Images of jazz in the 1920s are of raccoon coats, hip flasks, bobbed hair, and cars with rumble seats.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 21, 2016
  • Length: 59:29
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Cafe Musique
Café Musique is celebrating their new CD with several release parties. Their talents are recognized in this show along with the work of Stephane Gr...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 14, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Fats Waller
Pianist, composer, vocalist and ultimate entertainer Fats Waller always said his favorite instrument was the pipe organ.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 06, 2016
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Jule Styne, Credit: child prodigy
This is a tribute to those creative poets who wrote the memorable lyrics to so many wonderful songs in the 1920s.

Bought by WHCP-LP Cambridge, KCMJ Community Radio, WNIN, KREV-LP, WEZU and more


  • Added: Mar 30, 2016
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Bert Ambrose & his Orchestra
Bandleader and violinist Bert Ambrose lead, by far, the most distinguished dance band in England in the latter 1920s and early 1930s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 23, 2016
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong
This is a tribute to a few of the more influential women who were instrumental in the formation of early jazz.

Bought by Northern Community Radio - KAXE & KBXE, Minnesota, WVTF, WNMU-FM, WGTE Public Media, KMUW and more


  • Added: Mar 15, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 22
Caption: Cab Calloway
Singing in nonsensical sounds and rhythm sounds like it would be easier than singing the lyrics of songs, but it’s not. Many have tried most have f...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 10, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Jane Green
This is a sampling of the women who performed on Broadway and recorded studio sessions in the 1920s.

Bought by WJCT, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WNMU-FM, WGTE Public Media, WCPN and more


  • Added: Mar 03, 2016
  • Length: 59:02
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Walter Page's Blue Devils
Here is a selection of a few of the more successful black bands in an era when the electrical process for recordings was in its infancy.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 25, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Jungle Band 78 RPM label
The 1920s & early '30s were years of rapid change. jazz was no exception.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 18, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Scott Joplin
Ragtime was created some time in the late 1900s. No one knows for sure.

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 10, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Skiffle Band
Early jazz musicians experimented with an array of instrumentation including the kazoo, washboard, jug, hot fountain pin, goofus and comb. They als...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 03, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Unidentified band
In its original state, the blues were performed with repeating opening phrases. Melancholy, sad, lamenting tales.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 27, 2016
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Johnny Dodds
As jazz emerged as the popular music of the 1920s, it was common to have the trumpet as the lead instrument, however, a few pioneering musicians wa...

Bought by KRZA and KCBX


  • Added: Jan 20, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2