Playlist : Golden age of jazz

20th February 2011

It’s been an education to me compiling this list. The 20 songs below are drawn from the 1920s and 1930s, but in my eyes now the real golden years were very short, between around 1925 and 1930. In this period New Orleans was the throbbing heart of the jazz world; the music was joyful and exciting to dance to; and there was a real culture of innovation as several of the great early virtuosos and soloists rose to the fore. The end of this golden age coincided with the onset of the Great Depression. Some musicians headed north to New York or Chicago; some stopped recording altogether. And although the spirit of the 1920s was kept alive by a few great recordings by the original artists, Dixieland was no longer fashionable. Big band sounds and swing were now the thing. The 1940s were to see a Dixieland revival, but this was not destined to last : many of the artists were just making music with a retro feel, rather than creating something new and vital.

There is more information about most of the artists below if you visit the individual soundcloud pages.

Original Memphis Five – Hootin’ De Hoot

Eva Taylor with Clarence Williams Blue Five – Red Hot Flo (from Ko-Ko-Mo)

The California Ramblers – Vo-do-do-de-o blues

Jelly Roll Morton’s Red hot Peppers – Dr. Jazz

Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven – Alligator Crawl

McKinney’s Cotton Pickers – If I could be with you one hour tonight

Jabbo Smith’s Rhythm Aces – Croonin’ the blues

King Oliver & His Orchestra – St James Infirmary

Clarence Williams Jazz Kings – Candy Lips

Hoagy Carmichael & his Orchestra – Georgia On My Mind

Red Nichols & his Five Pennies – You rascal you

Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Feet Warmers – Shag

The Boswell Sisters – Shout sister shout

Roy Eldridge Orchestra with Gladys Palmer – Where the Lazy River Goes By

Duke Ellington feat Ivie Anderson – Cotton

Jimmy Noone and his New Orleans Band – Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

Hot Lips Page & his Band – Gone With The Gin

Mildred Bailey – My Reverie

Muggsy Spanier’s Ragtime Band – Lonesome Road

Louis Armstrong – When The Saints Go Marching In