Piece image

Black Vocal Harmony Groups of the 1930s & 40s

From: WFIU
Series: Night Lights Classic Jazz
Length: 59:01

Embed_button
A hour-long program of jazz music, exploring the music of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Read the full description.

Black-vocal-harmony-image_small The highly successful Mills Brothers inspired a large number of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Using only their voices and sometimes sparse instrumentation (guitars or tipples, which were a 10-stringed kind of ukulele), these groups combined jazz, pop, and gospel to produce recordings and styles that anticipated the rise of R & B, rock ‘n roll, and doo-wop in the 1950s.

We’ll hear the Spirits of Rhythm (featuring legendary hipster and scatter Leo Watson), the Golden Gate Quartet (who helped pioneer the “jubilee” gospel sound), the Four Vagabonds (an important transitional group between the jazz-jive vocal groups of the late 1930s and the black R & B groups of the 1950s), Cats and the Fiddle, the Ravens (their 1947 recording of “Ol’ Man River,” which included a bass vocal lead by Jimmy Ricks that served as a harbinger of the doo-wop movement to come), and more.

Also in the Night Lights Classic Jazz series

Piece image

Have Yourself a Very Quiet Christmas (58:59)
From: WFIU

An hour-long program of classic jazz, paying tribute to the holidays with an emphasis on the quiet, reflective side of Christmas melodies.
Piece image

Birth of the Cool, Birth of the School: Indiana and the Rise of Jazz Education (59:02)
From: WFIU

The fourth and final installment of the Jazz Crossroads of America series. In the 1960s universities began to establish jazz education programs, and the study of jazz became ...
Piece image

A National Road of Song: Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, the Ink Spots, and the Four Freshman (59:02)
From: WFIU

Part 3 in the Jazz Crossroads of America series. The National Road is also a metaphor for the exodus of talented jazz musicians from Indiana in the 1950s and 60s.
Piece image

Indiana Avenue: Black Boulevard of Jazz (59:02)
From: WFIU

Episode 2 of “Jazz Crossroads of America,” a special four-part series on the history of Indiana jazz. Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, J.J. Johnson, David Baker, and Slide ...
Piece image

Gennett Days: Hot Jazz from the Heartland (59:01)
From: WFIU

Episode 1 of “Jazz Crossroads of America,” a special four-part series on the history of Indiana jazz. King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, and ...
Piece image

Jazz for Mad Men: Hits from the 1960s (58:56)
From: WFIU

An hour-long program of classic jazz, featuring 1960s jazz crossover hits by Dave Brubeck, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Smith, and others.
Piece image

The New Year’s Eve Jam (59:01)
From: WFIU

An hour-long special featuring jazz music and spoken-word performances for the coming New Year from Charlie Parker, Lenny Bruce, Slim Gaillard, Ken Nordine, and more.
Piece image

Live From The Netherlands: The Sesjun Radio Shows (59:02)
From: WFIU

An hour-long program of classic jazz, featuring music from 1970s and 80s radio broadcasts of Bill Evans, Chet Baker and Art Blakey.
Piece image

The Big Bands’ Little Bands (58:59)
From: WFIU

An hour-long program of classic jazz, featuring music from the small groups within the larger orchestras of Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny ...
Piece image

Burning With Bud: Bud Powell Live 1944-1953 (59:01)
From: WFIU

An hour-long program of classic jazz, featuring live broadcasts of the great bebop pianist Bud Powell in the prime of his career.

Piece Description

The highly successful Mills Brothers inspired a large number of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Using only their voices and sometimes sparse instrumentation (guitars or tipples, which were a 10-stringed kind of ukulele), these groups combined jazz, pop, and gospel to produce recordings and styles that anticipated the rise of R & B, rock ‘n roll, and doo-wop in the 1950s.

We’ll hear the Spirits of Rhythm (featuring legendary hipster and scatter Leo Watson), the Golden Gate Quartet (who helped pioneer the “jubilee” gospel sound), the Four Vagabonds (an important transitional group between the jazz-jive vocal groups of the late 1930s and the black R & B groups of the 1950s), Cats and the Fiddle, the Ravens (their 1947 recording of “Ol’ Man River,” which included a bass vocal lead by Jimmy Ricks that served as a harbinger of the doo-wop movement to come), and more.

Timing and Cues

Total Program Length: 59:00

00:00 Segment 1: Program Intro
Incue: Theme Music

01:00 Segment 2: Optional Cutaway for News

06:00 Segment 3: Program Part 1
Outcue: “…you’re listening to “Black Vocal Harmony Groups” on Night Lights.”

32:31 Segment 4: MIDPOINT BREAK (1:00 music bed)

33:31 Segment 5: Program Part 2

59:00 End Program

Related Website

http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/black-vocal-harmony-groups-of-the-1930s-and-1940s/