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.


626 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Windy City to the Big Apple: Early Black Big Bands
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Windy City 1920s
When we think of the Big Bands, it’s most often in terms of the Swing Era. Understandable, since those sweet and hot orchestra’s dominated the 1930...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jul 15, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Dorsey Brothers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Riverboat Shuffle
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Mississippi Steamboat
In the latter days of the Golden Age of steamboats, many musicians plied their trade with the orchestras traveling the Mississippi. Memphis and St....

Bought by KCBX, Radio New Zealand, and KCBX


  • Added: Jul 28, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
1928
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: 1928 Flapper
What do frog jumping, transatlantic telephones and sliced bread have in common? 1928. This program is a very brief overview of the music heard duri...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 02, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Clicquot Club
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Harry Reser
They called themselves the Clicquot Club Eskimos. They were sponsored by the soda company specializing in ginger ail. Under the leadership of virtu...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Aug 13, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
The Jazz Wizards
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Chicago Prohibition
By the mid 1920s, Chicago had become, not only a hot bed of jazz, but the home of a thriving bootleg business. Hundreds of speakeasy’s sprung up ov...

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Aug 19, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
Chicago's Sweetheart
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Ruth Etting
Ruth Etting arrived in Chicago at the age of 17. She enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied costume design.

Bought by WDCB and KCBX


  • Added: Aug 26, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 2
Swing Street
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Swing Street
The repeal of prohibition helped build 52nd Street in the early 1930s. This two-mile stretch through Manhattan replaced 133rd Street as the place ...

Bought by Radio New Zealand and KCBX


  • Added: Sep 02, 2014
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 2
The Radio Rascals
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Gene Kardos
The Gene Kardos Orchestra wasn't know for their hot jazz, but that's not what their bandleader/alto saxophonist had in mind when he brought his gro...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 09, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Bow Ties
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Winold Riess
When jazz enthusiasts think of early violin performances, they may naturally land upon the name Joe Venuti. Indeed, Joe was one of the earliest, bu...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 17, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Ethel Waters
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Ethel Waters
She was known for her terrific voice. Her ability to shift gears from playfully light to low down growl was unmatched. But Ethel Waters’ is also k...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 22, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Stand Back: Eddie Lang Accompaniment
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Eddie Lang
Guitarist Eddie Lang is well known for his artistry. He’s credited for bringing the guitar out of the rhythm section, and creating a solo instrumen...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Sep 29, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Early Mills Brothers
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: The Mills Brothers
From winning an amateur contest at Piqua's May's Opera House in the 1920s to the rise of rock and roll in the early fifties and their number one hi...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Oct 04, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Unique Noodling
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
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
Jelly's Keys
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand “Jelly Roll Morton” LaMothe was among the elite, privileged few of the Creole population of New Orleans. Although the heyday of the city ...

Bought by KMUW and KCBX


  • Added: Oct 26, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Triangle Club
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Triangle Club 78 record
The Club McKenzie … The Triangle Club: The program follows the evolution of the Princeton Triangle Jazz Band beginning with its college days to the...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 03, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 1
Oliver Naylor’s Seven Aces
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Oliver Naylor's Seven Aces
Pianist and bandleader Oliver Naylor formed his own band in 1923, and a year later entered the Gennett Studios to record his first session.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 10, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
Brown & His Musical Brownies
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Milton Brown
“The Father of Western Swing” is the moniker tagged to Milton Brown. In 1932, he left the Light Crust Doughboy’s to form his own band: The Musical ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Nov 17, 2014
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
For the Record
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Caption: Thomas Edison
In the early 20th century there was a recording war - a war of recording studios. There was Thomas Edison on one side. Then there was everybody els...

Bought by KCBX, Radio New Zealand, WSLR, and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 25, 2014
  • Length: 58:59
  • Purchases: 4

Playlists That Feature This Series: