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.


637 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
The Folly of Fats part 1
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Fats Waller
Thomas Wright ‘Fats’ Waller is one of the few who can be called a legend during his lifetime, even though it was all too short: 39 years. Here he ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 08, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Johnny Dodds Tribute part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Johnny Dodds
A tribute to New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds continues.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 25, 2013
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
Johnny Dodds Tribute part 1
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds was one of the greatest clarinetist of the 1920's. Although both Jimmy Noone and Sidney Bechet had better technique, Dodds had a very ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 23, 2013
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
All the King's Men
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jimmy Dorsey
In the latter 1920s, bandleader Paul Whiteman began incorporating jazz elements into his band. In doing so, he hired quite a number of hot jazz art...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 20, 2013
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
The King part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Paul Whiteman
Part 2 in this 3-part series finds Paul Whiteman working on bringing jazz to a white audience. He does so by incorporating artists -- steeped in th...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 08, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
The King - part 1
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Paul Whiteman
It’s truly a misnomer to call him “The King of Jazz,” although he did manage to surround himself with a number of very talented jazz musicians. Mor...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 05, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Lonnie's League
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Lonnie Johnson
Pioneering blues and jazz guitarist Lonnie Johnson began playing professionally in New Orleans in 1917. He toured Europe with Marion Cook’s Souther...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 26, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Jazz in Britain
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Fred Elizalde
When the Original Dixieland Jazz Band visited Great Britain in 1919, the invasion was on. America’s music infiltrated the hearts and minds of young...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 22, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
C-Melody - part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Frankie Trumbauer
Few musicians can claim the accolades given to Frankie Trumbauer during the 1920s and 1930s. Unfortunately, he’s largely overlooked today; his infl...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 15, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
C-Melody
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Frankie Trumbauer
Reed artist Frankie Trumbauer contributions to early jazz have been overshadowed by the role he played in Bix Beiderbecke's career.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 09, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Hidden Harlem
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Harlem dancers
A six square mile area of New York City became the hotspot for jazz in the late 1920s. Duke Ellington called it, “The world’s most glamorous atmos...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 02, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Rhythm Kings
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Washboard Rhythm Kings
When washboard was King. Well, that may be a stretch, but the popularity of that musical instrument, when it was used as such, reached a height in...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 24, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Summer Fun
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Paul Robeson
Ah, summer, the shortest season of the year. Or, at least it seems that way. This show is devoted to a few really hot bands and vocalists who guar...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 18, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Exploring the Keys
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Scott Joplin
This program is devoted to those pioneers of jazz piano from Scott Joplin to Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 07, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
St. Louis Shuffle
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: sheet music cover
As New Orleans musicians began to migrate north following the closure of Storyville (the red light district near the navy base), it was only natura...

Bought by Radio New Zealand and KCBX


  • Added: Jun 04, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 2
Johnson's Jazzers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: James P. Johnson
Original stride pianist James P. Johnson began his professional recording career in 1916 with the Aeolian Company by recording several piano rolls....

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 29, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Turn on the Heat
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Sam Lanin
Largely forgotten, bandleader Sam Lanin is possibly the most prolific recording artist of the 1920s. No one really knows just how many records he ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Puttin' On the Ritz
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Irving Berlin
Composer and lyricist Jerome Kern summed up the life and work of Israel Baline (Irving Berlin) when he said, “Irving Berlin has no place in America...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 15, 2013
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
The Kid
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Kid Ory
By 1911, tailgate trombonist Kid Ory was leading one of the best-known bands in New Orleans. Eight years later he formed a successful band in Los A...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 06, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
The Hawk: 40-years with Coleman Hawkins
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
He is considered the first great tenor saxophonist in jazz. The first signs of Coleman Hawkins’ potential began to show when he was still a child.

Bought by KCBX, KMUW, and KCBX


  • Added: Apr 30, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 3

Playlists That Feature This Series: