From 1928 - 1933 RCA VICTOR RECORDS had a record series specifically marketed to African American record buyers. It flourished until the ravages of the Great Depression put an enormous hurt on the record business in general and the buyers of "race" records in particular. Hear a variety of the Hot Jazz, Blues, Gospel,  Jug Bands, Comedy and Sermons released by VICTOR for Americas' black population!

Songs of turkeys, good eats and THANKSGIVING as recorded by the pilgrims and pioneers of pre-1940 American Music!

 THE ALL PLAYED THE PALACE!  Vaudeville on record - New York's PALACE THEATER was the mecca of the  "two a day" Vaudeville circuit from 1912 when it opened until the early  1930s' when vaudeville fell out of favor.   We will play rare recordings of well known artists such as SOPHIE  TUCKER and many great artists now lost to the ages such as WILLIE & EUGENE HOWARD, WEBER & FIELDS,  DAVE APOLLON and BELLE BAKER  (billed as The Female Jolson!)and  more  Tunes in! 

 Born in Philadelphia in 1902 Eddie Lang switched from banjo to guitar in the mid 1920s and virtually wrote the book on how the instrument should be played in Jazz. We will play some early Lang solo recordings, his corner stone recordings with childhood pal JOE VENUTI,  duets with LONNIE JOHNSON , and some of his brilliant accompaniments with pop singers and orchestras of the day . Tunes in!

Just in time for Halloween listen to an amazing array of SPOOKY 1920s Jazz and Blues recordings from the Rube Bloom Bayou Boys MYSTERIOUS MOSE, Bessie Smith's  THEM's GRAVEYARD WORDS, Lonnie Johnson's BLUE GHOST  to Reverend Gates getting into a frenzy about THE DEVIL IN A FLYING MACHINE! 

Born  the son of a Cantor in Buffalo New York (1904) Arlen ( Hyman Arluck!)  took a path to Jazz playing in local bands that eventually landed him in  New York ( 1926) where he honed his song writing skills.  This show  will focus on Arlen's pre-Hollywood years ( 1925-33) when he kept busy  writing  songs for  musical reviews, singing with dance bands writing songs for  films, and in 1931-33 for the legendary COTTON CLUB PARADES. Tunes in!

American  Ragtime and then  Jazz showed up in England and Europe almost at it's inception in the 1890s-1910s - On this episode you will hear recordings by  American ex-patriots and  some of the  pioneering European "Jazz Bands"  that flourished  in Europe during the music's early years 1916-1939.  Included is FRED ELIZALDE, THE VERSATILE FOUR, ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JASS BAND, LE FRENCH HOT BOYS and more Tunes in!

From  1917 to 1934 Gennett Records, a  small, family owned record label out  of Richmond, Indiana recorded some of the earliest, most eclectic and  most curious mid-west and east coast jazz- From the first recordings of  LOUIS ARMSTRONG, KING OLIVER, BIX BEIDERBECKE , HOAGY CARMICHAEL and  JELLY ROLL MORTON to obscure "territory" bands such as ZACK WHYTE &  HIS CHOCOLATE BEAU BRUMMEL'S, SYD VALENTINE  & HIS PATENT LEATHER KIDS and THE BLACKBIRDS OF PARADISE , Gennett  recorded it ALL - and preserved the sounds of early jazz in every  imaginable incarnation. JOIN US as we explore some of those early  Gennett recorded sounds! .

THIS SPECIAL GEORGE GERSHWIN EPISODE, IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS SEPT 26TH BIRTHDAY ( 1898!),  WILL PRESENT RARE RECORDINGS OF GEORGE HIMSELF ON THE PIANO - PLAYING SOLO, ACCOMPANYING FRED & ADELE ASTAIRE ( 1926), AND  WITH THE PAUL WHITEMAN ORCHESTRA  ( 1927) AS WELL AS EARLY VERSIONS OF MANY PRE-1934  RECORDED GERSHWIN CLASSICS

VOLUME FOUR OF OUR ONGOING TRIBUTE TO THE LATE  RICH CONATY AND HIS "BIG BROADCAST" PROGRAM OUT OF FORDHAM UNIVERSITY THAT FOR FOUR DECADES BROUGHT THE GREAT, JAZZ, DANCE AND PERSONALITY RECORDINGS OF THE PRE-WW2 ERA TO THE AIR.