JAZZ RHYTHM

JAZZ RHYTHM
is an exploration of the lore, culture and personalities of early jazz, presenting
Jumping Swing, Classic Blues
and Hot Jazz:
Old and New

On these pages you’ll hear the music and meet the colorful characters who shaped and defined America’s most original art form,1900-1950:
       •    turn-of-the-century New Orleans
       •    Classic Jazz of the Twenties
       •    Thirties Swing
       •    the best of the Big Bands
       •    Traditional and Revival jazz.

Welcome to thousands of unique historic and archival performances, broadcasts, jam sessions, interactive articles and interview clips offered free of charge or advertising.

Below are the newest or most recently updated JAZZ RHYTHM pages for your enjoyment.

Dave Radlauer

New and updated pages and content:

My Jazz articles are now also being published by Syncopated Times.

The publication is the foremost vintage-jazz monthly published both online and in a 40 page print version. It is successor to the former Mississippi Rag and American Rag publications.

Bob Mielke and The Bearcats at the Lark's Club 1954-56

The Gang at Monkey Inn - Pt. 1Earl Scheelar, Bill Erickson, Walter Yost, Great Pacific Jazz Band

The Gang at Monkey Inn - Pt. 2
Bill Erickson, Ellis Horne, Frank Goudie, Bob Mielke, Jerry Blumberg

Earl Scheelar Honored at Cline Wine

Forthcoming:
Bob Mielke's Swingin' A's Strolling Dixieland Band 1969-92

Barbara Lashley: A Love Affair with Song

Dick Oxtot's Golden Age Jazz Band, 1974-94

Interactive articles with music and photos are being published in the audiophile magazine, Dagogo.

Duke Ellington Orchestra Live! (1940-64)Aside from Duke's stupendous efforts on record, the live performances offer an alternate body of work and intimate portrait of genius at work. Features the legendary Fargo 1940 concert and Ellington's Birthday Concerts in Portland, OR in 1953-54. A special emphasis on multi-instrumentalist Ray Nance and other outstanding soloists.

James P. Johnson: Forgotten Musical Genius

In this award-winning production, the life, music and career of early Jazz piano player James P. Johnson are explored with musical examples and audio clips from the radio series, Jazz Rhythm. Actor Peter Coyote reads from Johnson’s recollections and Mark Borowsky expertly traces his career, sharing insights gleaned from a lifetime studying this overlooked American genius.

Everybody loves Billie on Dagogo!

Discover The Real Billie Holiday:

Part 1 - 1930s

Part 2 - 1940s

Part 3 - 1950s

Don't miss the updated and upgraded Billie Holiday page on this site.

Women of Jazz on Dagogo:

Dynamic Women of Early Jazz and Classic Blues, Pt. 1 of 2International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Blanche Calloway, Hour of Charm Orchestra, Ina Rae Hutton and her Melodears, Bessie Smith are explored

Dynamic Women of Early Jazz and Classic Blues, Pt. 2 of 2 (forthcoming)
Lil Hardin Armstrong, Ma Rainey, Sophie Tucker, Mary Lou Williams are explored.

Imagining Buddy Bolden

A documentary special marks the release of the motion picture Bolden, directed by Daniel Pritzker with music by Wynton Marsalis.

Meet the first jazz trumpet player and leader of a jazz band, Buddy Bolden. His gripping rise to fame and his vivid life and times emerge in a lively swirl of music and voices at the birth of Jazz in New Orleans around 1900.

Though Bolden never recorded, by sampling the music of his contemporaries, proteges and followers we can Imagine Buddy Bolden.

See it in the theater of your imagination.

Frank "Big Boy" Goudie: Jazz on Three Continents:

Part 1 - France and Europe, 1924-39

Part 2 - South America 1939-46, Europe 1946-56

Part 3 - San Francisco, 1956-64

Dagogo:

Burp Hollow: S.F. Nightclub, 1956-66

Remembering Buck Clayton

The Unissued Hi-Fi Albums of Bob Mielke and The Bearcats, 1955

Radlauer articles index at Dagogo

Dagogo:

Barbara Lashley, A Love Affair with Song/

Bob Mielke's Oakland A's Strolling Dixieland Band, 1969-92

Divas, Jazz and Harlem-on-the-Seine Pt. 1

Divas, Jazz and Harlem-on-the-Seine Pt. 2

Jazz Singer, Barbara Lashley (1938-1990s)

A new page presenting her live performances with Ray Skjelbred, Bob Helm, Richard Hadlock, Leon Oakley, Bob Mielke, Steven Strauss and Peter Allen 1982-87, and best long out of print record album.

These are rare moments recalling Lashely's love affair with Bay Area Jazz and celebrating a gifted singer who left us too soon.

Ev Farey (1930-2018)

This page celebrates traditional jazz horn player Ev Farey (1930-2018).

His contributions to the Frisco Traditional Jazz revival were substantial. Heard in newly restored live sessions, he led Bay City Jazz Band and Golden State Jazz Band.

Page includes a lengthy and in-depth interview unheard for 20 years.

An expanding collection of sounds and images from his personal library, here.

Big Boy Goudie in Paris, 1924-39 - San Francisco 1956-64

Jazz on Three Continents Pt. 3Jazz on Three Continents Pt. 2Jazz on Three Continents Pt. 1

For nearly a quarter century Bob Mielke and the Oakland’s Swingin’ A’s Baseball Band brought vintage jazz to ballpark audiences, casual private parties and Traditional Jazz enthusiasts.

Featured at ballgames they played short sets of tunes “chorus and a half” in length. A solid musical ensemble featuring notable Bay Area reed players: Bob Helm, Bill Napier and Richard Hadlock.

A Dagogo article further explores:

Mielke Strolling Dixieland Band, 1969-92

Bobby Bruce

Noting the passing of Bobby Bruce (b. 1925 - d. 2018).

A versatile musician and arranger who still active at age 90, Bruce has one of the longest, most diverse music careers I’ve encountered.

 * Started in Vaudeville in the 1930s playing jazz modeled on Stuff Smith.

 * In the late 1940s he worked in Western Swing with Leon McAuliffe, Bob Wills, and his brothers.

 * During the early 1950s he had a very successful studio career in Hollywood playing, composing and arranging for television and film

Features exclusive interviews and commentary.

James P. Johnson

A forgotten genius, Johnson created Harlem Stride piano style, dozens of piano rolls, early Black theatrical musicals, hundreds of popular songs, full-scale symphonic works, propelling African American music into the modern era.
His dramatic legacy is re-explored in depth.

Monkey Inn was central to the second wave of the great San Francisco jazz revival, c. 1956-66.

Part One: The Gang at Monkey Inn
Musicians, mostly from the East Bay who played at this Berkeley beer and pizza joint included trombonist Bob Mielke, Dick Oxtot, multi-instrumentalist Earl Scheelar and singer Barbara Dane.

Part Two: Bill Erickson's virtuoso Combos
Featuring clarinists Frank Goudie and Ellis Horne, and probably Jerry Blumberg, trumpet, Erickson's Combos swung a wide range of jazz classics. Vanguard of a second wave of Frisco revival jazz musicians, these musicians built their own independent style during the 1950-60s.

Bessie Smith 
and Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey, “Mother of the Blues” and her protégé Bessie Smith, “Empress of the Blues” shaped and introduced the Classic Blues before 1920.

Their powerful voices and forceful personalities set the standard for recorded blues. They captivated a new urban audience with wind-up Victrolas and a hunger for novelty.

Earl Scheelar has been a bandleader, distinctive cornet player and master clarinetist since the 1950s.

At or next to the center of revival jazz in the East Bay over four decades, Scheelar ran jazz bands that fit no preexisting mold. When circumstances offered no favorable music venue he launched his own dance hall and band: Earl’s New Orleans House.

Newly published:
Earl Scheelar Will Surprise You, SF Cricket, Summer-Fall, 2016, SFTradjazz.org

Interactive article with 40 photos and 90 music tracks.

Frank Chace, clarinet (1924-2007)

Frank Chace was admired for his wild, expressive Chicago clarinet style in a lineage from Pee Wee Russell and Frank Teschemacher, with secondary influences of Johnny Dodds and Omer Simeon.

Still under construction, this page is a growing Frank Chace audio archive and photo gallery offering a large number of previously unpublished Chace performances of exceptional quality.

Includes very rare recordings of guitarist Marty Grosz, pianist Don Ewell and others.

Recently posted: the legendary Ristic LP, and Frank with Jabbo Smith.

Exciting music and photos of late trumpet and piano player Jim Goodwin.

Goodwin made a strong impression on San Francisco Bay Area listeners and fellow musicians. New and exclusive tapes from his Bay Area decade (late-1960-70s) are featured.

Photos, out-of-print albums, tributes from musicians and unique audio artifacts sketch an appealing profile for a widely loved and singular jazz talent.

Billie Holiday was a great singer, possibly the greatest jazz singer of all time. She had a pure jazz style and improvised brilliantly with other musicians. A distinctive and lasting voice in popular music her music stands unsurpassed at the apex of jazz singing. Her story is investigated in depth through music, interview quotes and clips, photos and text.

Introducing Clarence Williams
Clarence Williams was an early Classic Jazz pioneers,a talented and driven bandleader, pianist and accompanist, singer and composer who wrote many jazz and blues classics.

Updated with new music, photos and text.

During the 1920-30s he worked for Okeh Records and others directing production of maybe a thousand jazz and blues records by Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, King Oliver, Fats Waller, and he composed for early black musical theater.

Meet Williams talented wife, singer and show business pioneer, Eva Taylor.

Humphrey Lyttelton
The trumpet and clarinet player, composer and bandleader, author, illustrator and broadcaster who made New Orleans jazz popular in Great Britain.

Includes consideration his partnerships with Buck Clayton and Wally Fawkes.

The Lark's Club tapes

New in-depth article!

Part One:
The Bearcats at the Lark's Club: Sound and Images

Part Two:
The Bearcats at the Lark's Club: Sound and Images

Fresh audio and visual resources provide an ongoing survey of Bob Mielke's Bearcats. New tapes and photos illuminate the Bearcats' first and best regular gig in Berkeley.

New 6.2016

Pianist Ray Skjelbred was the best Classic Jazz keyboard player to emerge on the West Coast, second only to Burt Bales. His other influences include Earl Hines, Joe Sullivan, Jess Stacy and Art Hodes among others . . . but really all the piano literature of jazz.

Skjelbred was very active in the San Francisco Bay Area from c. 1969 to the early 1990s partnering with the finest local musicians.

His earliest and out-of-print albums, exclusive jam sessions, tributes from fellow musicians and photos are featured.

South Frisco Jazz Band
The classic two-cornet, Lu Watters-style South Frisco Jazz Band appeared at festivals and concerts,c. 1979-95.

This new page presents recordings in cooperation with former band members, followers and enthusiasts. A growing archive offers exceptional performances selected from concert tapes or unpublished and out-of-print sources.

A refurbished Buck Clayton
page features radio programs about this
multi-talented Swing era trumpeter, composer, arranger and jazz cat.

Newly posted archival photographs.

P.T. Stanton
Exciting new audiotapes, stories, recollections and images of this unique and peculiar jazz horn player continue to emerge. This page is fortified with new photos and an interactive article: The Odd Brilliance of P.T. Stanton.

Now in two parts:
P.T. Stanton 1950s-60s: Early years, Lark's Club, Frank Goudie, and recollecitons from Barbara Dane, Bill Bardin, Richard Hadlock and Dave Greer.

P.T. Stanton 1970s: Featuring P.T. Stanton Night, Stone Age Jazz Band and recollections by Bob Mielke, Pete Allen, Barbara Dane, Robin Hodes.

Newly available photos of Lester Young, NYC, 1950.

Great Pacific Jazz Band was a nine-piece Frisco-style Trad Jazz band with second cornet and two banjos, modeled on Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz band.

Newly available photos and audio celebrate the band's brief existence 1958-61.

Added 12.2015
Phil Howe's Classic Jazz Band
This related band was a failed attempt to sustain the Great Pacific Jazz Band.

GOLDEN AGE JAZZ BAND

Dick Oxtot’s Golden Age Jazz Band presented “Vintage Music with Style” for decades, beginning in the early 19702s.

For several decades Golden Age was Dick Oxtot’s platform for a rotating roster of the Bay Area’s best revival jazz talent and showcase for several female singers of jazz, blues and scat.

Explore this growing archive of exclusive audio and photos drawn from Oxtot’s personal collection.

Bob Mielke's Bearcats Audio Archive

A new page featuring unissued rarities from the 1950s starting with a restoration of the ill-fated Empirical LP from stunning stereo master tapes.

Meet the star of their early sessions,
clarinet player Bunky Colman.

Bunky Colman's clarinet style was a personal mix of New Orleans, Swing and Chicago clarinet influences that was variable depending on circumstances.

He's featured in exciting live and rare stereo recordings that highlighting the full range of his remarkable talent.

Burp Hollow tapes

New audio, photos and content have recently been posted. Explore the life of North Beach Babylon and meet a true Frisco character: owner-operator former mafioso Millio Militti.

"Hosted by a shady operator the best of Frisco Jazz was served up with a dubious cocktail at a crowded little gingham-topped table at the infamous Burp Hollow."

The Infamous Burp Hollow:
North Beach Nightclub and San Francisco Jazz Bar, 1956-66

Dick Oxtot was at the center of San Francisco Bay Area revival jazz for over a half century, from his junior apprenticeship with Yerba Buena Jazz Band to the Swingin’ A’s baseball band, or leading his Golden Age Jazz Band for three decades.

Thanks to Darylene Oxtot, rare photos, music and clippings from Dick's personal archives offer fresh views of his life in jazz.

New recordings, photos and feature on Oxtot's Country, String Band and Folk music added 9.2015.

The Bagatelle
Newly available historic recordings from this San Francisco jazz joint feature Oxtot's hot little bands of 1958-59 with Ted Butterman (cornet), Bunky Coleman and Frank Goudie (clarinets) and Bill Bardin (trombone) among others.

Also featured are the 1958 Clem Raymond sessions recorded in part at The Bagatelle.

The page of pianist Burt Bales has exclusive audio and photos from the collection of Bob Mielke.

Pier 23 stereo broadcast

Newly restored stereo and mono broadcasts from this legendary San Francisco waterfront dive and jam session bar on the Embarcadero.

Pier 23 tapes

Erickson's One Man Band recordings are newly posted. Among the more successful of their kind, they're tight and polished with some delightful Bixian trumpet solos and overdubbed horn-section passages. This is excellent arranging that is both a tongue-in-cheek send-up, and affectionate tribute to the popular music of an earlier generation. Formidable musicianship.

Willie the Master.pdf

Trad Jazz exclusive!

Yerba Buena Jazz Band A reassessment of the West Coast Traditional Jazz rebellion of the Forties is accompanied by fresh transfers of unissued live performance discs.

YBJB - Phil Elwood His legendary broadcasts of 1957/66 celebrating Yerba Buena.

New site feature:

A Tip Jar

JAZZ RHYTHM has received the New York Festivals, World's Best Radio Programs & Promotions Finalist Award Winner for Best Writing 2014: Discovering Frank Big Boy Goudie and The Benny Strickler Story.

JAZZ RHYTHM / Dave Radlauer
email: Dradjazz@Gmail.com
Phone: 510.848.8323
Berkeley, CA 94705 USA

Jump labels