Riffs!

Episode notesAt the Jazz Band Ball explores the riff — a short musical phrase that became one of the building blocks of swing. Hear how a few simple notes, repeated, varied, layered, and passed among musicians, could generate excitement and hold an entire arrangement together. Music (Artist): Carolina Shout (James P. Johnson, 1921); Squabblin' (Walter Page's Blue Devils, 1929); Stealin' Apples (Fletcher Henderson, 1936); Toby (Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, 1932); Moten Swing (Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, 1932); Out the Window (Count Basie, 1937); Jumpin' at the Woodside (Count Basie, 1938); Wrappin' It Up (Fletcher Henderson, 1934); For Dancers Only (Jimmie Lunceford, 1937); Spinnin' the Webb (Chick Webb, 1938); Christopher Columbus (Fletcher Henderson, 1936); In a Jam (Duke Ellington, 1936); C Jam Blues (excerpt) (Duke Ellington, 1942); Duke's Place (Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington, 1965); One O'Clock Jump (Count Basie, 1937),SET 1 — The Riff Takes ShapeSET 2 — The Basie MethodSET 3 — Riffs in MotionSET 4 — The Riff ReturnsCopyright 2026 Kevin McLaughlin

Jazz and blues developed alongside each other, drawing on shared traditions and ideas, and were often played by the same musicians. It’s almost impossible to hear jazz without hearing some traces of the blues. MUSIC: - TEASER: Sidney Bechet’s Blue Note Jazz Men — “BLUE HORIZON” (1944) - THEME: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra — “DELTA SERENADE” (1934) SET 1: THE WHOLE FINGERPRINT - King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band — “DIPPER MOUTH BLUES” (1923) - Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five — “SAVOY BLUES” (1927) - Count Basie and His Orchestra, Jimmy Rushing — “Sent for You Yesterday and Here You Come Today” (1938) SET 2 — TAKE AWAY THE TWELVE BARS - Mattie Hite, vocal; Cliff Jackson, piano — “ST. JOE’S INFIRMARY (THOSE - GAMBLER’S BLUES)” (1930) - McKinney’s Cotton Pickers — “PLAIN DIRT” (1929) - Fats Waller and His Buddies — “THE MINOR DRAG” (1929) - Lonnie Johnson’s Harlem Footwarmers — “MOVE OVER” (1928) SET 3 — KANSAS CITY: THE BLUES AS OPERATING SYSTEM - Count Basie and His Orchestra — “SWINGIN’ THE BLUES” (1938) - Joe Turner, vocal and Pete Johnson, piano — “ROLL ’EM PETE” (1938) - Jay McShann, piano — “CONFESSIN’ THE BLUES,” Walter Brown, vocal (1941) - Count Basie and His Orchestra — “EVERY TUB” (1938) SET 4 — THE BLUES DON’T HAVE TO BE BLUE - Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang — “Goose Pimples” (1927) - Clarence “Pinetop” Smith — “PINETOP’S BOOGIE WOOGIE” (1928) - Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra — “Billie’s Blues.” (1936)

Jazz broadcasts, airchecks, and transcriptions from 1920s-40s

Jazz Remotes, Transcriptions, and Airchecks, 1920s-40s.

They met in Harlem in the 1930s and briefly overlapped in the Count Basie Orchestra. She called him “The President” — “Prez” — because she considered him the finest saxophonist of them all. He called her “Lady Day.”

Pittsburgh jazz in the early and mid part of the 20th century. Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Lena Horne, Billy Eckstine, Roy Eldridge, Maxine Sullivan, Erroll Garner, and others.

At the Jazz Band Ball - Kevin McLaughlinJazz spring songs 1920s-40s, and commentary.

Cleveland club hopping in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Visit the Majestic Hotel, East 55th and Central, The Palace Hotel on Public Square, Short Vincent, the Trianon Ballroom, Val’s in the Alley, and the Cleveland Public Auditorium, where Django Reinhardt made his American debut.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cleveland-club-152406853?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=web_share

Audio walking tour of Prohibition era Harlem, courtesy of illustrator E. Simms Campbell: A Night-Club Map of Harlem, 1932.Music: Cab Calloway. "Minnie the Moocher" Presenting Cab Calloway & His Orchestra. Minnie the Moocher (Theme Song) (78rpm Version), 1932; Duke Ellington and His Washingtonians. "Choo-Choo (Gotta Hurry Home)" Choo Choo. Blue Disc, 5001, 1924; Cab Calloway. "Reefer Man" The Best of Cab Calloway (various) . RCA, 1931; Chick Webb and His Orchestra. "Harlem Congo" The Chick Webb Collection . GRP/Decca Jazz Heritage, 1937; Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday; dir. Fred Waller - "Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life " Film short, music. Cult Cinema Classics, 1935; Gladys Bentley - "Worried Blues" (1928) - Roots 'N' Blues/The Retrospective 1925-1950; Fats Waller and His Buddies, "Harlem Fuss " Harlem Fuss. Victor V-38050-B, 1929; Nina Mae McKinney "Half of Me Wants to Be Good" Short film excerpt "The Black Network". Vitaphone, 1936; Garland Wilson, piano; Michel Warlop, violin "Limehouse Blues" Midnight Ivory - The Early Garland Wilson Recordings. ℗ 2025 Jazz Classics, 1938; Adelaide Hall. "As Time Goes By" Barry Humphries Presents So Rare 3. ℗ 2006 Bilarm Music Pty Ltd, 1943; Fats Waller and His Rhythm "Two Sleepy People " If You Got To Ask, You Ain't Got It!. Bluebird/Legacy, 1938; Bert Williams "Nobody " Nobody. Columbia, 1913; Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, "Doin' The Lowdown" Doin' the Lowdown - 78 rpm. Brunswick 12810, 1932.

AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL - Ep. 44/ PRX #8Episode Theme: Jazz in 1926Total Running Time: Approx. 59 minutesTheme Music: “Delta Serenade” (Duke Ellington) Music: Ethel Waters: A Hundred Years From Today (1933); Clarence Williams Blue Five (Eva Taylor, Louis Armstrong): "Squeeze Me" (1926), Fats Waller: Squeeze Me (1939); Jelly Roll Morton: "Black Bottom Stomp" (1926); Annette Hanshaw: "Black Bottom" (1926); Buffalodians (Jack McLaughlin, ldr, Harold Arlen, piano): "Here Comes Emaline" (1926); Buffalodians (Harold Arlen, voc): "How Many Times?" (1926 (Irving Berlin); Red Nichols and His Five Pennies: "Boneyard Shuffle" (Hoagy Carmichael) (1926); Duke Ellington & His Kentucky Club Orchestra: “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” (1926); Duke Ellington & His Kentucky Club Orchestra: "Birmingham Breakdown" (1926); Duke Ellington & His Kentucky Club Orchestra: "Immigration Blues" (1926); Joe Venuti, violin, and Eddie Lang, guitar: "Stringing the Blues (1926); Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five: "Heebie Jeebies" (1926); Ethel Waters: "Sugar" (1926); Ethel Waters: "Dinah" (1926).