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.


604 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Reeds-A-Plenty
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Omer Simeon
As jazz evolved over its first decade, the clarinet was the primary wind-instrument. But, when the music reached Chicago, the saxophone, more speci...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 23, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Southern Hospitality
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s jazz band
Southern Hospitality: The term conjures up wonderful images. Primary on the list is it’s the birthplace of jazz. The program is devoted to the mus...

Bought by Northwest Public Broadcasting and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 16, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
Bix & the Gang
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
Although Bix Beiderbecke’s career spanned less than a decade, his influence on future cornetists lasted generations. What is not surprising is the ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 10, 2023
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
Red by Red
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Henry Allen
Two popular musicians who added to the legacy of jazz through their colorful musical personalities. Henry “Red” and Loring “Red” Nichols. Vastly di...

Bought by Northwest Public Broadcasting and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 03, 2023
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 2
Small Labels
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Piece image
As the decades of the 1920 began, so did a plethora of brand-new small label recording studios. They, indeed, grabbed the attention of jazz musicia...

Bought by Northwest Public Broadcasting and KCBX


  • Added: Jan 27, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Pugilist
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jimmy McPartland
When Cornetist Jimmy McPartland was growing up in west side Chicago, He was constantly finding he was at odds with the law. He says, if it wasn’t f...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 19, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Ma Rainey
Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya is the title of a 1920s song written by Ma Rainey. It is also a book by Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro that tells stories from t...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 13, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Quoting in Rhythm
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Zutty Singleton
One way to truly enjoy the earliest days of jazz is to hear directly from the musicians themselves. Only they can tell the story as it really was.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 05, 2023
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Lost Chords part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Bunny Berigan
The first glimmer that there was something new in the world of music became apparent in the deep south. It was long before Louis Armstrong and Bix ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 28, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Christmas with the Club
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1920s Christmas Wish
Despite being one hundred years old, this is a very similar scene to what we experience today. In her research, author Betty Owens discovered that ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 22, 2022
  • Length: 58:57
  • Purchases: 1
Lost Chords part 1
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Adrian Rollini
In the early 1990s, jazz trumpet Richard Sudhalter decided he needed to correct, what he perceived as a historical error: that the White jazz music...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 15, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Jazz Dance
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Dance
In the 1920s, dozens of new dances were introduced to a dance hungry public. From America to Europe, people were feeling the rhythm in their feet.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 08, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
New Orleans part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Freddie Keppard
The early Crescent City cornets set the standard for the decade of the 1920s. This program is a followup recognizing those creative artists who gen...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 01, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
New Orleans Horns
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Buddy Bolden
The tradition of Crescent City cornetists and trumpeters begins with Buddy Bolden and ends with Henry “Red” Allen. It’s well documented on record t...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 22, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sizzling Syncopators
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Noble Sissle
He joined his first society orchestra in 1916, helped organize a regimental band during WWI, teamed up with rag time pianist Eubie Blake, and forme...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 17, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Big Band
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Duke Ellington Orchesrtra
Long before the age of the “Big Band Era”, bandleaders were creating swing in their orchestras. Nineteen-twenty-seven to 1936 was a decade of expe...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 10, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
KC Gems
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Benny Moton Orchestra
Kansas City developed a unique style of jazz in the 1920s. Musicians borrowed heavily from blues and ragtime. In the process, the band leaders deve...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 03, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Songster
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Ethel Waters
Before there can be a singer there has to be a lyricist. Fortunately, the 1920s were rich in the number of creative wordsmiths. Not to mention the...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 27, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Lines of Color
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Edythe Turnham's Band
: Jazz emphasized improvisation and individual expression. It became a symbol of freedom and rebellion. Especially for the young. The fact that it...

Bought by Northwest Public Broadcasting and KCBX


  • Added: Oct 20, 2022
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 2
A Handful of Riffs
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Lang & Johnson
One entry into the field of jazz that is frequently overlooked is the guitar. It belonged in the rhythm section. That is until Eddie Lang and a few...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 13, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1

Playlists That Feature This Series: