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.


622 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Not the Usual
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Stompin' the Blues
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Reeds in Front
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Ukulele Heaven
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
In 1915, the tiny ukulele found its way to the mainland. Imported from Hawaii. And, it took the musical world by storm. Millions of these inexpensi...

Bought by KCBX and KHNS


  • Added: Jan 13, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Dark Angel of the Fiddle
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Eddie South
Chicago based violinist Eddie South, The Dark Angel of the Fiddle, actually can be classified as worldwide.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 06, 2016
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Ringing in the New Year
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Happy New Year 1920s
Some of the best remembered songs of the 1920 to celebrate the New Year.

Bought by WVIA, High Plains Public Radio, KMXT, WHCP-LP Cambridge, KMXT and more


  • Added: Dec 29, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
Dulcet Tones
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Ethel Waters
Those beautiful female voicalists who became pioneers in the art of jazz voicing in the early 1920s.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 18, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Leading Trumpets
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Louis Armstrong's Trumpet
Here is a selection of some of the finest trumpet artists of the Jazz Age.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 16, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
The Showmen
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Cab Calloway
This program features three artists who could ignite an audience just by walking on stage. Don Redman, Ted Lewis and Cab Calloway. They were all fi...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 09, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Rarities in Jazz
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Irving Mills Orchestra
Here are a few selections from the archives of early jazz representing some of the talented musicians who, for whatever reason, remained in the sha...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 02, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Borders: Territorial Bands
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Syd Valentine & his Patent Leather Kids
This program features a few of those overlooked musicians who simply didn’t venture very far from their own back yards, or hometowns.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 23, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Show Boat & More
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Show Boat
When Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein proposed a broadway production of Edna Farber’s novel, Show Boat, their friends advised against it. It was t...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 18, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Blue Ribbon: Tricky Sam
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton
Jazz musician Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton was a pioneer of the plunger mute trombone, a creator of vocal sounds from the instrument, and a perfect fit ...

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 11, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Alto & Tenor
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
Two powerhouse saxophonists of early jazz are heard in this show: Benny Carter, alto and Coleman Hawkins, tenor.

Bought by KMUW and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 04, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Melody Lingers On
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Harry Warren
The melody may set the stage, but it’s frequently the lyrics we remember. This show is devoted to those handy wordsmiths, many of them forgotten.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 28, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Battle of the Bands
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Original Creole Orchestra
The first two decades of jazz witnessed a new dynamic for promotions. Musicians began gathering in the streets of New Orleans in an effort to outsh...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 22, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
It Sounds Like Louie
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
In the first decade of jazz, many trumpet players attempted to reach the level of musicianship set by Louis Armstrong. Two, in particular, were sta...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 15, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Candullo & the Big Apple
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Joe Candullo & his Orchestra
New York City was the happening place during the Jazz Age. Actually, there were more musicians than there were jobs. But somehow, quite a number of...

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: Oct 07, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Half Pint
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon
Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon began his career on the Vaudeville stage at the age of 15. His influence may have been show business, but he artfully inc...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 30, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Chicagoans
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Chicagoans
Chicago in the 1920s was a pivotal point for jazz. A number of changes were being incorporated into the music birthed in New Orleans, and the Austi...

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Sep 22, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2

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