PRX - Pieces for Format: Special

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Caption: Wolverines with Min Leibrook, sax
In the earliest jazz bands of the 1920s, the baritone and bass saxophones were relegated to the rhythm section, the bass line. But everything bega...

  • Added: Oct 11, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
Caption: Canal Street, New Orleans
The legend of musician Buddy Bolden has stretched well beyond the city limits of New Orleans. Whether or not half of the stories are true, really d...

Bought by WRGY and Troy Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 06, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: The Missourians
They were known as the big band of the 1920s who sounded a little “country.” Not because they were from Nashville, nor did they have a twang in th...

Bought by KMUN


  • Added: Sep 27, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Segar Ellis
Ellis was first a jazz pianist and later jazz vocalist who recorded numerous sides with the Dorsey Brothers, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and many other...

  • Added: Sep 21, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: Art Hodes
Some of the earliest Blue Note recording sessions featured the trumpet of Sidney DeParis, clarinet of Edmund Hall, and piano of Art Hodes. They ca...

  • Added: Sep 14, 2012
  • Length: 58:52
Caption: Willie "the Lion" Smith
He was a master ”Tickler”. Stride piano is the term attached later to a specific rhythmic style where the left hand follows the pattern of the rig...

  • Added: Sep 07, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: Bix Beiderbecke & Frankie Trumbauer
The dynamic duo work of cornet Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer was one of the greatest in early jazz. Their first recording dates...

  • Added: Aug 15, 2012
  • Length: 58:53
Caption: Bessie Smith
The blues melded with jazz long before the first recordings in the late teens. Although the music was, at least at first, structured on the 8 and 1...

  • Added: Jul 31, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: Clarence Williams
Shining shoes to music publishing in a few short years. To Clarence Williams it may have seen much longer. By 1910, he was considered a leading s...

  • Added: Jul 26, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
Piece image
Give a listen to some of those very hot bands of the 1920s. You may not recognize many of the names, but that doesn't lessen their impact.

  • Added: Jul 17, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
Caption: Muggsy Spanier, Credit: photo by Charles Peterson
The origin of his nickname is disputed. Regardless of the reasons, Francis Joseph Julian Spanier was simply known as Muggsy. Before Bix Beiderbeck...

  • Added: Jul 12, 2012
  • Length: 58:59
Caption: Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen wrote some of the greatest hits jazz and popular music, including the entire score to the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. But there a...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2012
  • Length: 58:58
Caption: Bandleader Merle Johnston
This is a glimpse at some of those talented bands of the 1920s and ‘30s who only recorded a few sides in their brief careers. There is some buried...

  • Added: Jun 22, 2012
  • Length: 58:54
Caption: Apollo Theater, Chicago, 1920s
It’s Windy Hear! But, in the late 1920s and early ‘40s, much of that wind was coming from the great horns of musicians like Ruben Reeves and Louis...

Bought by WDCB


  • Added: Jun 01, 2012
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Frankie Teschmacher
When Kansas City born Frankie Teschmacher joined the Austin High Gang in the mid-1920s, his instrument of choice was alto saxophone. But, in his yo...

  • Added: Apr 26, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
Caption: Harry Warren
In 1922 composer Harry Warren created his first hit, "Rose of the Rio Grande," with lyrics by Edgar Leslie. From that successful launch came a prod...

  • Added: Apr 12, 2012
  • Length: 58:59
Caption: Ted Lewis & his ubiquitous silk hat
He has one foot in vaudeville and one foot in jazz, and he was a show unto himself. Ted Lewis was the only popular bandleader who could show up wit...

  • Added: Mar 22, 2012
  • Length: 59:01
Caption: Coconut Grove nightclub, Credit: soulsafari wordpress
In 1921, the Coconut Grove nightclub was the place to see and be seen. Hollywood stars frequently the club located in a peaceful rural setting sur...

  • Added: Mar 09, 2012
  • Length: 58:57
Caption: Istock Photo
Two legendary figures in early jazz: Johnny Dodds and Tiny Parham. They were at the center of the evolving new music of the 1920s, and contributed ...

  • Added: Mar 03, 2012
  • Length: 59:00
Caption: George Gershwin
In recognition of Hanukkah, this show is dedicated to the Jews who catapulted popular music to stage and radio from the 1900 to the early 1930s.

Bought by Troy Public Radio, KWIT, and WNMU-FM


  • Added: Dec 12, 2011
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3