PRX - Pieces for Tone: Lighthearted

Can't find it? Try Advanced Search
View by:

80 results


Caption: Fess Williams
Jazz didn’t emerge from a vacuum. It was an amalgamation of several musical forms including blues, skiffle, the call and response, vaudeville, and ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 26, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Blue Rhythm Band
By 1930 Irving Mills had the world on a string. His music publishing business was booming, and he began to expand his control over his musicians.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 09, 2015
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Crescent City Orchestra
Sleepers: Those wonderfully talented band of the last 1920s who were kept in the dark. Somehow, despite their inventiveness, they never reached a l...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jun 24, 2015
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: The Jazz Wizards
Chicago was a muddy, windy town in the mid 1800s, but in 1893 (World's Fair) it had come of age. By 1920, if you couldn’t find the jazz you liked i...

Bought by WDCB, Radio New Zealand, and KCBX


  • Added: Apr 07, 2015
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Broadway
One of the best ways to get new music to the public in the 1920s and ‘30s, was to present it on stage first. Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, Eddie C...

Bought by Radio New Zealand and KCBX


  • Added: Dec 15, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Wilton Crawley
To say that Wilton Crawley had a unique sound would be an understatement. He used every technique in the book in the ‘20s, and created much of his ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 20, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer’s spend his early career with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, a small experimental group consisting of Bix Beiderbecke and Bill Ran...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 13, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were two very important factors in the formation of jazz in the 1920s. They performed together with the California Ramblers ...

Bought by KMUW and KCBX


  • Added: Jul 22, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Washboard Rhythm Kings
Spasm bands, or skiffle bands, (created out of found objects not usually found in musical groups) originated in the streets of New Orleans around 1...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: May 12, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
WWOZ - an outlet for JazzFest music heads to hear the golden era of New Orleans music (the 1950s to 1970s). Tonight, "New Orleans music you've nev...

  • Added: May 04, 2014
  • Length: 02:55:07
Caption: Thomas 'Fats' Waller
Although Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller was one of the most prolific recording artists in the 1920s and 1930s, very little of his earlier music is heard.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 29, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Blackbirds Sheet Music
The review, Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1928, opened at the Liberty Theatre on 42nd Street in May of that year.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 16, 2014
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: George Brunies
Half a dozen brothers and sisters, mother, father, and a cousin made up the core of the Brunies family. They were all good musicians. Many of them ...

Bought by Troy Public Radio and KCBX


  • Added: Apr 03, 2014
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Vaughn De Leath
She was known as “The First Lady of Radio.” Vaughn De Leath’s recording career began in 1921, which lead to hundreds of titles over the next decade...

Bought by Radio New Zealand and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 25, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Eddie Condon
Eddie Condon is one of the liked musicians during the early years of jazz. A Chicago style guitarist, is probably best remembered for his wit, humo...

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 03, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Three Jazz Wizards
Here is a sampling of some of the bands of the 1920s; most didn’t make it beyond their geographical boarders. By no means does that lesson their ta...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 15, 2014
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Fletcher Henderson
The Dixie Stompers were formed for one purpose: to record for a less expensive label for those who couldn’t afford to buy the 75-cent discs.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 31, 2014
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
Episode 10 is dedicated to Andy's favorite film festival in San Francisco, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. You’ll hear his conversations wi...

  • Added: Jan 22, 2014
  • Length: 45:42
Caption: From a record trading shop - the dreck that can't even be given away., Credit: WFMU at WFMU.org home of my favorite radio show - Seven Second Delay
Collectors music from the era just before rock and roll established a formulaic sound. "Music you've never heard by musicians you've never heard o...

  • Added: Jan 12, 2014
  • Length: 02:55:15
Piece image
More music you've never heard by musicians you've never heard of. Tonight, sets of music about bubble gum (very different from bubble gum music) a...

  • Added: Jan 05, 2014
  • Length: 02:53:56
Caption: Jack Teagarden
Very few musicians had the artful phrasing that Weldon Leo “Jack” Teagarden had. Whether he was playing trombone, or singing, he seemed to adopt so...

Bought by KMUW and KCBX


  • Added: Jan 02, 2014
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Fess Wiliams
Stanley “Fess” Williams earned his nickname from his six years teaching music. Although he taught early elements of jazz, you can believe he also i...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 25, 2013
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Victor ODJB 78 RPM
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was one of the first major record labels, and arguably the best. They became a revolutionary force in the mu...

Bought by Radio New Zealand and KCBX


  • Added: Dec 18, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Alley Rat by Jimmy Blythe
Pianist and composer James Louis Blythe is lost in obscurity today, but during his all too brief career, he was considered among the very best. Bly...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 05, 2013
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum is famous, with exhibits around the world. In the early 1930s, a restaurant and small dance floor provided an ideal set...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 06, 2013
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1