Caption: Bandleader Merle Johnston
Bandleader Merle Johnston 

Summer Session Friends

From: Guy Rathbun
Series: the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy
Length: 58:54

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This is a glimpse at some of those talented bands of the 1920s and ‘30s who only recorded a few sides in their brief careers. There is some buried gems hiding in these rare recordings. Read the full description.

Merle_johnston_small This is a glimpse at some of those talented bands of the 1920s and ‘30s who only recorded a few sides in their brief careers. There is some buried gems hiding in these rare recordings.

Also in the the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy series

Caption: Irving Berlin

Puttin' On the Ritz (58:59)
From: Guy Rathbun

Composer and lyricist Jerome Kern summed up the life and work of Israel Baline (Irving Berlin) when he said, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American ...
Caption: Kid Ory

The Kid (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

By 1911, tailgate trombonist Kid Ory was leading one of the best-known bands in New Orleans. Eight years later he formed a successful band in Los Angeles, but after five ...
Piece image

The Hawk: 40-years with Coleman Hawkins (58:58)
From: Guy Rathbun

Considered the first great tenor saxophonist in jazz, Coleman Hawkins was a child he was a gifted musician. In 1922, Mamie Smith spotted him in and hired him to play with her ...
Caption: Bandleader Billy Cotton

Billy Cotton: That Rhythm Man (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

Despite the vast popularity of "That Rhythm Man," as Billy Cotton was known, his recognition did not reach the states like the bands lead by Ambrose, Noble, Hilton and others.
Caption: Cliff Edwards with Ukelele

The Uke (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

The ukulele became as commonplace in the American parlor as the piano in the 1920s. Today we think of the tiny guitar as a Hawaiian instrument, when in reality, it was ...
Caption: Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow

The Odd Couple (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

Sidney Bechet was one of the early jazz virtuosos. Born in New Orleans, he began his professional career long before jazz was put to wax. Then there was Mezz Mezzrow. ...
Caption: John Held Jr.

Laughing in Rhythm (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

Laughter is the best medicine. But, it feels that today's musicians may be taking themselves too seriously. Here are selections from the 1920s to the '40s where some of the ...
Caption: Pee Wee Russell

Pee Wee (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

Although he hailed from St. Louis, Charles Ellsworth “Pee Wee” Russell took his clarinet cues from New Orleans. Only now is he beginning to be recognized as one of the most ...
Caption: Irving Caesar

The Wordsmiths (58:57)
From: Guy Rathbun

This program features those wonderfully talented lyricists of the 1920s who created such memorial songs as "Margie," "You Took Advantage of Me," "Three Little Words," "A Fine ...
Caption: Louis Armstrong

Hidden Messages (Pledge Drive Special) (49:30)
From: Guy Rathbun

As far back as the 1920s, jazz bands were performing music that had hidden messages inside their songs. Messages that asked their audience to pledge to public radio. Think ...

Piece Description

Broadcast History

KCBX Public Radio

Timing and Cues

Segment #1 INCUE @ 00:00: Theme …
Segment #1 OUTCUE @ 20:32: “ … we’ll have this brief break.”
1st :62 second break with music bed.
Segment #2 INCUE @ 21:34: “Here we are with a …”
Segment #2 OUTCUE @ 39:07: “ … Let’s take a little break.”
2nd :62 second break with music bed.
Segment #3 INCUE @ 40:09: “Even when you have …”
Segment #3 OUTCUE @ 58:55: … theme ends.

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Hula Girl Andrew Aiona & his Novelty Four 78 RPM 1927 00:00
Worries on My Mind Tom Crowley & his Orchestra 78 RPM 1930 00:00
Pahahana Andrew Aiona & his Novelty Four 78 RPM 1927 00:00
Doc Ogilie Tom Crowley & his Orchestra 78 RPM 1930 00:00
Oh, Baby, Where Can You Be? Merle Johnston’s Saxophone Quartet 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Breakin’ the Leg Warner’s Seven Aces 78 RPM 1925 00:00
Do Something Merle Johnston’s Saxophone Quartet 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Eddie & Sugar Lou’s Stomp Eddie & Sugar Lou’s Hotel Tyler Orchestra 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Gut Bucket Shuffle Harris Brother’s Texans 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Fuzzy Wuzzy The Fuzzy Wuzzy’s 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Paul Tremaine’s Orchestra Aristicratic Stomp 78 RPM 1929 00:00
Blackbirds of Paradise Tishomingo Blues 78 RPM 1927 00:00
The Weary Stomp Curtis Mosby Dixieland Blue Blowers 78 RPM 1927 00:00
Blackbirds of Paradise Sugar 78 RPM 1927 00:00