Air Week: September 30-October 6, 2019

Swing Time Records

Jack Lauderdale started Downbeat Records in 1947, making it one the first Black owned record companies in America. He wanted to focus on the growing jazz and R&B market, where other small, independent labels were thriving. Right off the bat, Lauderdale set up a distribution network and began leasing and buying material from other, smaller labels. This helped him get through the Recording Ban of 1948, since he had plenty of pre-recorded material to release while the union forbade musicians from playing on any sessions. The jazz magazine Downbeat forced Lauderdale to consider alternate names for his label and so he issued a number of releases on Swing, Swing Beat and finally, Swing Time. This week, Matt The Cat will fill the “Juke In The Back” with mostly original recordings that Lauderdale recorded and issued himself, instead of the reissued material from other labels. Classics like Ray Charles’ first sides with the Maxin Trio, Lloyd Glenn’s #1 record and Lowell Fulson’s incredible, hit-laden run with the label. Swing Time is an oft-storied label that comes to life on this week’s “Juke In The Back.” 

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