At the Jazz Band Ball

Pittsburgh jazz in the early and mid part of the 20th century. Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Lena Horne, Billy Eckstine, Roy Eldridge, Maxine Sullivan, Erroll Garner, and others.

At the Jazz Band Ball - Kevin McLaughlin Jazz spring songs 1920s-40s, and commentary.

Cleveland club hopping in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Visit the Majestic Hotel, East 55th and Central, The Palace Hotel on Public Square, Short Vincent, the Trianon Ballroom, Val’s in the Alley, and the Cleveland Public Auditorium, where Django Reinhardt made his American debut. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cleveland-club-152406853?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_ca...

Audio walking tour of Prohibition era Harlem, courtesy of illustrator E. Simms Campbell: A Night-Club Map of Harlem, 1932. Music: Cab Calloway. "Minnie the Moocher" Presenting Cab Calloway & His Orchestra. Minnie the Moocher (Theme Song) (78rpm Version), 1932; Duke Ellington and His Washingtonians. "Choo-Choo (Gotta Hurry Home)" Choo Choo. Blue Disc, 5001, 1924; Cab Calloway. "Reefer Man" The...

AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL - Ep. 44/ PRX #8 Episode Theme: Jazz in 1926 Total Running Time: Approx. 59 minutes Theme Music: “Delta Serenade” (Duke Ellington) Music: Ethel Waters: A Hundred Years From Today (1933); Clarence Williams Blue Five (Eva Taylor, Louis Armstrong): "Squeeze Me" (1926), Fats Waller: Squeeze Me (1939); Jelly Roll Morton: "Black Bottom Stomp" (1926); Annette Hanshaw: "Black Bottom"...

MUSIC - Putney Dandridge - Santa Claus Came in the Spring (1935); Clarence Williams - Santa Claus Blues (1924); Bernie Cummins - I Told Santa Claus to Bring Me You (1937); Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Webb - Holiday in Harlem (1937); James P. Johnson - Snowy Morning Blues (1943); Fats Waller - Winter Weather (1941); Ozie Ware, Duke Ellington Hot Five - Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back (1928); Elzadie Robi...

Sleigh rides in July, swinging Santas, holidays in Harlem, ca. 1920s-1940s. Music: Swingin' Them Jingle Bells (1936) - Fats Waller & His Rhythm; Santa Claus Came in the Spring (1935) - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra; Santa Claus Blues (1924) - Eva Taylor, Clarence Williams' Blue Five; I Told Santa Claus to Bring Me You (1937) - Bernie Cummins, Holiday in Harlem (1937) - Ella Fitzgerald, Chi...

"In a Mist": Jazz expanded its world with classical music beginning in the 1920s — borrowing attributes, techniques and sometimes making arrangements. Music : Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five: West End Blues (rec. 1928), Cornet Chop Suey (rec. 1926); Debussy: "Voile" Prelude Book 1, No. 2 (1910) (Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli); Bix Beiderbecke: In a Mist (1927); J.S. Bach 2-Part Invention No. 1 in...

Halloween’s ghosts and goblins found a natural home in New Orleans — cradle of jazz, city of spirits and second-line magic, and where the music can rouse the dead… or at least get the ghosts dancing. Music: The Skeleton in the Closet - Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey Orch. (1936 ); Theme: Delta Serenade - Duke Ellington (1940); I'm a Jazz Vampire (1920) - Marion Harris; Dry Bones -Fats Waller and Hi...

Music : "Wrappin' It Up" (1934); "Wha-Cha-Call ’em Blues" (1925); "D Natural Blues" (1928); "An American in Paris" (1928) (excerpt); “Radio Rhythm” (1931); “Tidal Wave” (1934); "Happy As The Day Is Long" (1934); "Hotter Than ’Ell" (1934); “Wrappin’ It Up” (1935); " Down South Camp Meeting” (1934, 1936); "King Porter Stomp" (1932, 1935); "Stealin' Apples" (1936, 1937); "Can You Take It" (1933); "Th...

Put And Take (Adrian Rollini, bass sax, hot fountain pen, Joe Venuti's Blue Four, 1930); Delta Serenade - Theme (Duke Ellington, 1940); I'm Coming Virginia (Sidney Bechet, sop sax, & His New Orleans Feetwarmers, 1941); Wang Wang Blues (Rollini, "goofus", The Goofus Five, 1927); Knockin' on wood (Red Norvo, xylophone, 1933); J azz Me Blues (Adrian Rollini Trio, vibes, chimes, 1950); Girls Like...

A 60 min. version of the Jelly Roll Morton episode. More tunes! More details. Music: (Original) Jelly Roll Blues (1910; rec. 1923); King Porter Stomp (1923); Alan Lomax Library of Congress Interviews (1938); Black Bottom Stomp” (1926); The Crave (1910; rec. 1938); The Pearls (1927); Maple Leaf Rag (1899; rec. 1938); Grandpa’s Spells (1926); Shreveport (Stomp) (1929; Freakish (1929); Hyena Stomp (1...

Whether or not Jelly Roll Morton actually invented jazz, as he famously claimed, his remarkable journey from Storyville to the Library of Congress is worth reconsidering. Blends commentary, historic recordings, and interviews to reveal Morton’s genius, contradictions, and enduring role in shaping the sound and story of early jazz. Music: "Original Jelly Roll Blues" (1924), “King Porter Stomp” (192...

John Hammond was a visionary jazz producer and talent scout who discovered or championed Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, and Lester Young. A tireless advocate for integration, he helped break racial barriers in jazz, produced historic recordings, and brought Black artists to wider audiences through concerts and radio. Music: Count Basie: "One O'Clock Jump" (1937), B...

Bassists : Pops Foster, Wellman Braud, Thelma Terry, Walter Page, June Rotenberg, Slam Stewart, Jimmy Blanton. Music : Mahogany Hall Stomp, Washington Wobble, Freeze and Melt, Starlight and Tulips, Pagin' The Devil, Blue Devil Blues, Hesitation Boogie, Play Fiddle, Play, Jack the Bear.

Classical meets jazz. Featuring: John Kirby Sextet, George Gershwin, James P. Johnson, Duke Ellington, Carl Maria von Weber, Benny Goodman, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Art Tatum, Fats Waller. Music: Mr. Haydn Gets Hip, Beethoven Riffs On, Rhapsody in Blue, You've Got To Be Modernistic, excerpt from Black, Brown, and Beige, excerpt from Invitation to the Dance, Let's Dance, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini...

At the Jazz Band Ball is a podcast devoted to jazz from its earliest days through the 1940s. Every show is an exploration of an artist, a venue or an instrument. Louis Armstrong at Connie's Inn in Harlem, Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, Bix Beiderbecke at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, and lots more. Join me on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Early jazz drummers, pt. 2. Featuring: Buddy Gilmore, Chick Webb, Sonny Greer, George Wettling, Dave Tough, Gene Krupa, Papa Jo Jones. Music: Castle House Rag, Vote for Mr. Rhythm, Liza (All The Clouds'll Roll Away), Jumpin' Pumpkins, Drummer's Delight, Three Little Words, Shine, Sing Sing Sing, Drum Boogie, Sent for You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today), Delta Serenade.

Featuring : Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, Sid Catlett, Viola Smith, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, Pee Wee Russell; Songs include : Spooky Drums, China Boy, Sugar Foot Strut, I Found a New Baby, Moppin' and Boppin', Rose Room, Mop Mop, Steak Face.

Benny Carter Recorded June 14, 1992, Courtesy of Smithsonian Jazz Oral History This native New Yorker made memorable impressions as a great bandleader and improviser. Largely self-taught, Benny Carter's first instrument was the trumpet, although the alto saxophone eventually became his principal instrument. He participated in tours with Jazz at the Philharmonic and wrote arrangements for singers i...

Benny Carter, alto sax, trumpet - Rambling in C (1937), Plain Dirt (1929), That's How I Feel Today (1929), Six or Seven Times (1929), Keep a Song in Your Soul (1930), Chinatown My Chinatown (1930), Keep a Song in Your Soul (1930), Symphony in Riffs (1933), Waltzing the Blues (1936), When Lights Are Low (1936), Cow Cow Boogie (1942). Featuring: McKinney's Cotton Pickers, The Little Chocolate Dandie...

Featuring: Louis Armstrong, California Ramblers, Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith. Songs: Dinah, Gut Bucket Blues, Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie!, Flamin' Mamie, Tea For Two, Squeeze Me, Davenport Blues, St. Louis Blues.

Holiday jazz featuring: Peggy Lee, Ella Logan, Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Julia Lee, Fletcher Henderson, Claude Thornhill, John Kirby, Putney Dandridge, and Fats Waller. Songs include: Jingle Bells, Winter Weather, Santa Claus Came in the Spring, There's Frost on the Moon, Every Day's a Holiday, Snowy Morning Blues, Snowfall, Arab Dance, Bounce of the Sugar Plu...

Bonus show, Christmas jazz 1940s. Featuring: Peggy Lee (with Art Lund and Benny Goodman): Winter Weather (1941) and Julia Lee and Her Boyfriends (1948): Christmas Spirits. Regular Christmas show to appear in a couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Jazz as "The Devil's Music," 1920s, 30s, 40s. Featuring: Louis Armstrong, Marion Harris, Fats Waller, Hot Lips Page, Jelly Roll Morton, Mildred Bailey, Louis Prima, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday. Songs: The Skeleton in the Closet, I'm a Jazz Vampire, Dry Bones, Skull Duggery, Boogaboo, Ghost of a Chance, Mr. Ghost is Going to Town, The Ghost of Smokey Joe, Haunted House Blues, Ghost o...