JAZZ RHYTHM: JUMPING SWING, CLASSIC BLUES AND HOT JAZZ -- OLD AND NEW
JAZZ RHYTHM explores the lore, culture and personalities of early jazz bringing alive the colorful personalities, dynamic development and distinctive atmospere of early jazz. These entertaining presentations will delight and charm whether you are just learing about Jazz, Blues and Swing or a dedicated "moldy fig".
The award-winning series is friendly and casual, informed by Dave's twenty-five years presenting vintage jazz, smoothly blending music, narration and insight. Guest celebrities, authors, musicians and rare interview clips add depth to lively stories and quickly sketched biographies.
(Note: Programs 1 - 100 are no longer available.)
Pgm# 100 NEO SWING THAT’S NOT NEO?!? -- Before the recent Neo Swing revival there were bands making great swing over the last 30 years such as: Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks, Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, Widespread Depression Orchestra and Leon Redbone.
Pgm# 101/ 102 PEE WEE RUSSELL -- One of the most remarkable clarinet talents of jazz in recordings from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Pgm# 103 WACKY, WACKO, GONZO JAZZ & HOKUM from Slim Gaillard, Fats Waller, the Rhythm Rascals, & Squirrel Nut Zippers.
Pgm# 107/ 108 VOCAL HARMONY GROUPS featuring the Boswell Sisters, Andrews Sisters, Spirits of Rhythm, The Mills Brothers, Andrews Sisters & the Delta Rhythm Boys.
Pgm# 109 / 110 FOOD SONGS: Slim Gaillard, Fats Waller, Wingie Manone, Louis Prima & Retro Swingers, The Rhumba Bums and Jellyroll.
Pgm# 111 / 112 / 113 CLANCY HAYES: SAN FRANCISCO MINSTREL Clancy Hayes was a one-of-a-kind singer, banjo player, composer and life long entertainer. He was also among the creators of the West Coast Traditional Jazz revival in the 1940s. In the 1950s as a member of Bob Scobey’s Frisco Jazz Band Clancy became widely popular and a mentor to younger musicians.
Pgm# 114 / 115 / 116 DJANGO: Life, Music & Legend. PART 1 Features guest NARRATOR PETER COYOTE.
Pgm# 117 / 118 / 119 PIANO MONSTERS: Earl Hines, Joe Sullivan; Art Tatum; Russ Gilman; Mike Lipskin; Marcus Roberts & Thelonious Monk.
GOLDEN REEL AWARD WINNING PROGRAM, NFCB 2003: Pgm# 120 / 121 BARBARA DANE: A LIFE IN SONG offers an in-depth interview and biographical portrait celebrating her six decades of singing Jazz, Blues and Folk music; acting for social change; and generally raising hell.
Pgm# 122 / 123 / 124 A Pioneering Woman of Jazz tribute to BILLIE HOLIDAY.
Pgm# 125 / 126 TRAIN TRACKS: RAILROAD SONGS IN JAZZ BLUES AND SWING with Jay McShan, Louis Jordan, Leadbelly, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & a very rare Dave Brubeck 78 rpm disc.
Pgm# 127 / 128 / 129 NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM KINGS (Pts. 1 - 3) were among the earliest jazz bands to bring New Orleans-style jazz to Chicago and onto records.
Pgm# 130 RECENT NEO SWING from Lee Press On, Swing Legacy and The Cotton Club Orchestra of Australia.
Pgm# 131/ 132 / 133 WASHBOARD RHYTHM KINGS were not a band, but a series of brilliant Jazz and Hokum recordings consisting of varying personnel issued throughout the 1930s.
Pgm# 134 / 135 DIGGING SPUD MURPHY -- talking with an unsung hero of the swing and big band era: a composer, clarinetist, and excellent arranger for the Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, and Casa Loma bands. Murphy recalls 75 years in music, and you’ll hear his tunes from the ‘30s to brand new recordings of his arrangements.
Pgm# 136 UKELELE MADNESS! -- with Jazz, Hokum and blues on ukulele by Cheap Suit Serenaders, Steven Strauss, Spirits of Rhythm, various ukelele ladies and featuring Ukulele Ike, the best selling uke artist of all time.
Pgm# 137 / 138 / 139 CELEBRATING JAMES P. JOHNSON -- more than father of Harlem Stride piano, author of American pop standards and Harlem music revues in the 1920s, he was also a composer of symphonic and orchestral music way ahead of its time. Special guests, actor and jazz fan Peter Coyote, and Mark Borowsky of the James P. Johnson Foundation help to bring this musical genius into focus.
Pgm# 140 / 141 / 142 COWBOY JAZZ & HILLBILLY SWING -- featuring Western Swing by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Light Crust Doughboys, and Milton Brown among others. In the 1930s powerful jazz influences infected the string bands of Texas and the Southwest. Blending saxes and brass; hot jazz fiddle; swinging dance rhythms, Dixieland and Blues with rural string band sounds created Western Swing: a widely popular regional hot music. It may sound country . . . but it’s pure jazz and blues.
Pgm# 143 / 96 / 144 FAREWELL TO BOB HELM: A SAN FRANCISCO LEGEND -- Tribute to the recently passed clarinet and soprano saxist who was vital to the revival of Traditional Jazz on the West Coast. Special emphasis on Helm’s key role in shaping the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Revival in the bands of Lu Waters and Turk Murphy. (SF JAZZ CHRONICLES Vol. 1)
Pgm# 145 / 146 / 147 BIX -- Celebrating 100 years since the birth of cornet player Bix Beiderbeke. His subtle, beautiful horn tone and unusual musical ideas proved that jazz could be sweet and still be hot. The music of this shy, introverted youth added a new dimension and depth to early jazz, influencing trumpeters from Rex Stewart to Miles Davis.
Pgm# 148 / 149 CLUB OF HOT CLUBS -- featuring Hot Club of Cowtown, Hot Club of San Francisco, Pearl Django, Oscar Aleman and The Quintet of the Hot Club of France.
Pgm# 150 / 151 LIL HARDIN: BIOGRAPHY OF A JAZZWOMAN -- Pianist, composer, singer, and arranger who wrote many great jazz tunes. “Miss Lil” contributed to the early successes of King Oliver and Louis Armstrong (she was Louis’ second wife) and had a successful recording career of her own in the 1930s. Her musical skill, humor, and determination, have gradually emerged from obscurity and are vividly heard in her recordings and a rare interview.
Pgm# 152 FOOD SONGS: JAZZ GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT -- with Slim Gaillard, Fats Waller, Turk Murphy, Louis Jordan, Wingy Manone and Bob Wills.
Pgm# 153 CLASSICAL THEMES IN JAZZ & SWING -- a melange blending classical music with hot jazz and swing style featuring: Artie Shaw, John Kirby Sextet, Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller and Sidney Bechet.
Pgm# 154 / 155 / 156 WALLY ROSE & the REBIRTH OF RAGTIME -- Pianist Wally Rose helped launch the revival of interest in Ragtime piano music in the late 1930s, also participating in the Traditional Jazz Renaissance as a key player in the Lu Watters and Turk Murphy bands of the 1940s and 50s.
Pgm# 157 / 158 Blues pianist, vocalist and bandleader JAY MCSHAN continues a recording career spanning half a century, bringing Kansas City sounds into the present.
Pgm# 159 / 160 / 161 / 162 COUNT BASIE -- Celebrating the centennial of the quintessential swing band leader and a remarkable pianist.
Pgm# 163 / 164 / 165 WOMEN OF NEO-SWING: Featuring recent female vocalists updating the Swing style, like Lavay Smith (Skillet Lickers), Belinda Blair (Jellyroll); Carmen Getit (Rhumba Bums) and others.
Pgm# 166 / 167 / 168 TROMBONIST BOB MIELKE -- Played with numerous greats of jazz including Sidney Bechet, Bob Wilbur, George Lewis, Lu Watters, & Barbara Dane. Many rare, out-of-print, 78 rpm and one-of-a-kind broadcast tapes fill-out a wide-ranging discussion with Mielke. His recollections of, and unissued recordings with legendary clarinetist Frank “Big Boy” Goudie are featured.
Pgm# 169 / 170 WINGIE MANONE -- His trumpet, singing, composing and infectious personality took him from New Orleans to Hollywood.
Pgm# 171 / 172 / 173/ 174 / 175 FATS WALLER centenary with special guests and commentary. Fats Waller as composer; as classical musician; and with friend and teacher, James P. Johnson. In part 3 Waller scholar and stride pianist Mike Lipskin demonstrates the finer points of Waller’s style of Harlem Stride piano in and interview and studio performance.
Pgm# 176 / 177 DUTCH SWING COLLEGE -- recalled by Chris Vonk who studied with its founder, Peter Schilperoort.
Pgm# 178 / 179 VINCE CATTOLICA -- The exciting life and wild times of a superb clarinetist with tales to tell about West Coast nightlife in the 1940s & 50s.
Pgm# 180 / 181 LIVE FROM CLUB HANGOVER -- Exclusive highlights of rare broadcasts from San Francisco’s premier Dixieland Jazz club of the 1950s.
Pgm# 182 / 183 BILL BARDIN -- Talking with an outstanding West Coast jazz trombonist who knew and played with a remarkable list of jazz greats.
Pgm #184 / 185/ 186 / 187 JACK TEAGARDEN -- Widely considered the greatest of all classic jazz trombonists; he was a master of the blues and remains one of the all-time best-loved personalities of early jazz.
Pgm# 188 / 189 ELLA FITZGERALD -- was a major song stylist, partnering with the greatest names in jazz like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie, while leaving an indelible mark on jazz. Special guest hosts are actors Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker.
Pgm# 190 / 191/ 192 VIRTUOSI OF JAZZ VIOLIN -- recordings of classic masters Joe Venuti, Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith & Eddie South; and current stylists such as Andy Stein and Australian George Washingmachine.
Pgm# 193 / 194 BESSIE SMITH & MA RAINEY -- the classic blues vocalists who shaped the sound of early blues on record, bringing the country roots of jazz and blues into urban life. Their powerful legacy, in recordings both vintage and recent, continues to fascinate musicians and listeners.
Pgm# 195 CLASSICAL & SYMPHONIC THEMES IN JAZZ -- Popular melodies and themes from Classical music often translate surprisingly well to Jazz and Swing. Many of the greatest talents of early Jazz, from Bix Beiderbeke and Django to Duke Ellington were deeply inspired by Symphonic music.
Pgm# 196 / 197/ 198 THE HUMPHREY BROS & PRESERVATION HALL -- Remembering New Orleans jazz musicians Willie and Percy Humphrey of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. An intimate portrait by guest Bill Carter, clarinet player and author of Preservaton Hall - Music from the Heart, who knew well clarinetist Willie and trumpeter Percey.
Pgm# 199 / 200 / 201 REDISCOVERING BUNK JOHNSON -- with Harold Drob who befriended Bunk, produced his last recording, and dedicated his life to researching the life of the man whose discovery launched the New Orleans Jazz revival in earnest.
Pgm# 202 / 203 / 204 JAMMIN’ with EDDIE CONDON -- bandleader, raconteur and public advocate for Dixieland music he was a master. Performing with Condon on records, concerts and broadcasts were a truly astonishing roster of the greatest names of classic jazz.
Pgm# 205 / 206 / 207 / 208 / 209 REMARKABLE WOMEN of Jazz Blues and Swing -- surveying the often overlooked Women of Jazz presenting eight-decades of singers, composers, arrangers and instrumentalists playing sax, guitar and piano from the earliest days of jazz to the present time.
Pgm# 210 / 211 CARTOON JAZZ -- Music from cartoons by Betty Boop, Cab Calloway, Raymond Scott, Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Band, The Beau Hunks & Don Byron.
Pgm# 212 / 213 PIONEERS OF VOCAL HARMONY -- Featuring Cats and the Fiddle, Boswell Sisters, The Mills Brothers, Golden Gate Quartet, Tonic Vintage Vocals and Manhattan Transfer.
Pgm # 214 / 215 PIANIST & COMPOSER TINY PARHAM -- recorded dozens of great tunes in Chicago during the 1920s and today some of the finest Traditional Jazz ensembles around still perform his music.
Pgm# 216 / 217 DISCOVERING OBSCURE VIOLINISTS OF JAZZ -- A long line of less well-known but fabulous violinists have been recording jazz since the late 1920s including Eddie South, Michel Warlop, Svend Asmussen, Ginger Smock, Ray Nance and some remarkable talents living and performing today.
Pgm# 218 / 219 / 220 SIDNEY BECHET -- the second-best known New Orleans musician who first brought the soprano sax to Jazz. From a childhood on the streets of the Crescent City shared with Louis Armstrong to his last decade as a national treasure of France, his tempestuous times and deeply expressive music were larger than life. PETER COYOTE GUEST NARRATES as the voice of Bechet in readings taken from his autobiography.
Pgm #221 / 222 / 223 DUKE ELLINGTON & his FAMOUS ORCHESTRA LIVE! -- in live recordings and broadcast rarities from the early 1930s to the mid-1960s the bands persona was distinctly different from their studio sound.
Pgm# 224 / 225 CLUB HANGOVER -- More broadcast rarities by Red Nichols, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Lee Collins and Muggsy Spanier live from San Francisco’s premier Dixieland venue in the ‘50s.
Pgm# 226 / 227 BUNNY BERIGAN -- Despite and early death from alcoholism, Berigan was one of the most remarkable trumpeters of the Swing Era uniquely blending the divergent styles of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbeke.
Pgm# 228 / 229 ALBERTA HUNTER: TIMELESS DIVA -- A remarkably successful jazz and blues singer in the 1920s and ‘30s who re-entered the music business in the 1970s with a voice finer and mellower than ever.
Pgm# 230 / 231 / 232 PIANO MONSTERS AND BOOGIE WOOGIE KINGS: Pete Johnson, Sammy Price, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Earl Hines, Art Hodes were popular pianists who contributed to the art of Jazz piano.
Pgm# 233 / 234 SAMMY PRICE -- a pianist, composer, bandleader and a man of many parts whose rich and varied career, streches from his home state of Texas in the ‘20s, to house pianist at Decca, staying breifly in Europe during the seventies, and pausing along the way to dabble in law, politics and business.
Pgm# 235 / 236 MEN of the BLUES -- Male singers who shaped the blues. From from the down home blues of Jimmy Rushing; to the uptown sounds of Joe Williams, to earthy blues shouters like Big Joe Turner, men who sang the blues made significant contributions to the music in the mid-20th Century.
Pgm# 237 / 238 / 239 BENNY CARTER -- Surveying the art and career of an American genius: alto sax stylist, trumpeter, composer, bandleader and arranger.
Pgm# 240 / 241 MUGGSY SPANIER -- From his early years in Chicago through his famous ‘Ragtime Band’ of 1939, to living legend in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Spanier helped revive and sustain New Orleans style jazz.
Pgm# 242 / 243 / 244 W.C. HANDY REMEMBERS -- An autobiographical memoir by the somewhat misunderstood “Father of the Blues” who wrote or published America’s best-known blues songs, “St. Louis Blues,” “Memphis Blues,” “Beale St. Blues” and “Yellow Dog Blues.” Handy tells his own story from rare archival interviews and audio clips.
Pgm# 245 / 246 BUCK CLAYTON -- The life and times of a trumpeter best known for his years with the Basie Orchestra and as an intimate of Billie Holiday.
Pgm# 247 FOOD SONGS -- A feast celebrating the gustatory joys of food in songs by Fats Waller, Marty Grosz, the Boswell Sisters, Diana Krall, and Tommy Dorsey’s Clambake Seven.
Pgm #248 / 249 REDISCOVERING JABBO SMITH -- an electrifying trumpeter and competitor to Louis Armstrong who fell on hard times. Late in life he was rediscoverd as a remarkable pioneer, composer, singer and theatrical performer. Jabbo’s delightful Rhythm Aces from 1929 and his live concerts in the 1980s with the Hot Antic Jazz Band of France are featured.
Pgm# 250 / 251 / 252 OBSCURE BANDS OF EARLY JAZZ -- Surveying several very good but overlooked bands like Erskine Hawkins, New Orleans Owls, plus the band’s of John Kirby, Paul Howard, Rex Stewart and Barney Bigard.
Pgm# 253 / 254 CLARENCE WILLIAMS -- Bandleader and pianist Williams was among the foremost composers of early jazz, recording and composing prolifically during the 1930s and ‘40s.
Pgm# 255 / 256 / 257 FAREWELL TO HUMPHREY LYTTELTON -- the english trumpeter who adopted New Orleans style Jazz and made it popular in Britan. The late Mr. Lyttelton was not only the uncontested leader of British Jazz for a decades but a talented cartoonist, writer, journalist who eventually became one of Britan’s best-loved BBC radio personalities. Three 59:00 programs.
Pgm# 258 / 259 IT’S ABOUT NOONE -- The music and style of clarinetist Jimmie Noone, originally from New Orleans he came to fame in Chicago around 1930. Two 59:00 programs.
Pgm#260 / 261 DOC CHEATHAM’S Life in Jazz -- Warm recollections of a 75 year career in jazz music, touring and recording with the likes of, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and Ma Rainey. His vivid memories bring alive a classic era of American music. Three 59:00 programs.
Pgm#262 / 263 SWINGIN’ WITH THE CASA LOMA ORCHESTRA -- Casa Loma was an exceptional Swing band in many ways and a fierce competitor in 1930s big bands battles, Casa Loma was one of the hottest bands of the Swing Era, a source of original tunes, and one of the most danceable bands of all time. Two 59:00 programs.
Pgm#264 / 265 SYMPHONIC JAZZ & CLASSICAL FUSIONS -- Swing and Jazz interpretations of symphonic music. Classical melodies have a special charm when improvised by Swing bands, Stride piano players and Jazz bands. Also includes some unique attempts to fuse Jazz and Symphonic forms into a so-called ‘Third Stream’ by Artie Shaw and the Hot Clubs of San Francisco and Norway. Two 59:00 programs.
Pgm# 266 / 267 / 268 / 269 / 270 CONTEMPORARY HOT CLUB JAZZ & GYPSY SWING -- Today Hot Club Jazz and Gypsy Swing form a remarkable international network of gifted and creative musicians from many nations. Music from the Rosenberg Trio, Romane, Bireli Legrene, Hot Clubs of San Francisco, Norway, and Detroit, John Jorgenson, and the remarkable band, Pearl Django. Six 59:00 programs.
Pgm# 271 / 272 / 273 / 274 EXPLORING BENNY GOODMAN’S KINGDOM OF SWING -- Benny Goodman was one of the most successful popular stars of the Swing Era. He was also an outstanding jazz clarinetist and bandleader hiring many of the best jazz arrangers, soloists and musicians of all time for his small bands. Four 59:00 programs.
Pgm# 275 / 276 / 277 VISITING STAN MCDONALD: Musical rarities and reminiscences from a half-century in jazz -- A little know treasure of the Traditional Jazz scene, Stan is a fine soprano saxophonist who is a disciple of Sidney Bechet, the series presents his finest work, much of it in exclusive live performances with such greats as Doc Cheatham, Sammy Price, Art Hodes, Kenny Davern, and the outstanding New Black Eagle Jazz Band in which he was a founding member. Two 59:00 programs and a third web-only special of 77:00 with exclusive rare live music.
JAZZ RHYTHM SPECIALS
LOUIS ARMSTRONG: IN HIS OWN WORDS -- Armstrong tells his story in his own voice, words, and music. His jazz taught the world to swing. Recordings 1923 to 1970 include a rare radio concert unheard since its 1954 broadcast.
“IMAGINNG BUDDY BOLDEN” -- A visit to turn of the century New Orleans to meet trumpeter Buddy Bolden. This is a gripping tale of the first leader of a jazz band; from his rise to fame through his descent into madness. From the music of those who sounded like Buddy Bolden and the words of those who knew or heard him emerges a vivid portrait of New Orleans’ first true jazz band, and the city that gave birth to jazz. Fact and legend mingle in the words and voices of Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Bunk Johnson and actors Peter Coyote, Jill Eikenberry and Ed Markman.
HALLOWEEN HOLIDAY SPECIALS -- Spooky, funny, haunted, ghoulish, ghostly, silly, giddy, gonzo Halloween jazz from: Valaida Snow, Lee Press-On and the Nails, Tommy Dorsey, Bessie Smith, Raymond Scott, Royal Society Jazz Orchestra and Cab Calloway.
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SPECIALS -- Christmas jazz.
NEW YEARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL -- Rare historic New Years eve broadcasts and celebrations include Harry James, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Duke Ellington, Bob Scobey, and Earl “Fatha” Hines.
NEW YEARS EVE SPECIAL featuring Lord Buckley, including a never previously broadcast performance of his Royal Highness.
