Joe delves into a treasure trove of 1920s-30s test pressings of unissued sides, takes and private recordings that never came out in the 78 rpm era! From Jack Crawford & His Orchestra blistering HURRICANE from 1927 to a 1936 guitar/vocal duo by Piedmont Blues disciples THE TWO CHARLIES and more.

We all know and love the early recordings of Louis Armstrong and King Oliver but names like Wingy Mannone, Sam Morgan, Henry Allen Jr and Leon Prima are falling into the vat of forgotten history - Tune in and be jazz-inspired!

New arrivals and faves from Joe's 20,000+ collection of pre-war 78s!

A mixture of rare and great pre-war Blues, Jazz, Gospel and Country 78s from Joe's collection!

Songs about Presidents and voting ( and voting TWICE!) from the golden era - Jack Kelly South Memphis Jug Band, Riley Puckett, Blind Blake and a slew of others will be in the house!

While most fans of early jazz know the names and legends of Louis Armstrong and King Oliver there were many other brilliant and important trumpet/cornet plays working in the Cresent City during the early decades of the last century - this episode, the first of two, explores the music of some of them! - "KING" FREDDIE KEPPARD, "KID" PUNCH MILLER, OSCAR CELESTIN and LOUIS DUMAINE and their various bands will be highlighted

A cross section of new additional to Joe's library of pre-war 78s! - Uncle Dave Macon, Clarence Williams with Bechet & Armstrong and so much more!

Tributes songs to falling politicians, movie stars and gangsters were common back in the 1900s-30s We will pay a surprising array of country and blues tributes to the likes of people like band leader Walter Barnes to President William McKinley

From the 1880's through the 1930s the Yiddish Theater flourished on New York's lower east side. By 1910 over a million new Jewish immigrants had settling on the lower east side with 1000s still arriving annually. From the Bowery and Houston Street all along 2nd Avenue to 14th Street many theaters exclusively presented new Yiddish plays; original musicals, comedies, melodramas Yiddish adaptations of classics including Shakespear to a mass culturally hungry new arivals. This episode will...

Each week American Grooves taps into a collection of 20,000 vintage 78 rpm recordings to select the 15 or so Joe chooses to present- this episode is the first of a series of "MIXED BAG" episodes- new things, old favorites and brave shellac experiments! - tune in for some pre-1940 Country, Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Ethnic and Pop musical surprises !

From Fletcher Henderson to Jelly Roll Morton, this lovely, sentimental ballad written by Paul Dreiser in 1905 was recorded by a scad of artists across the genres - from Charles Harrisons straight head 1905 version to Perry Bechtela swinging version in 1935 - this episode show how some great songs last and last!

When sound was added to movies in the late 1920s Hollywood clamored for virtually ANYTHING that could sing! - 1928-29 was a mecca of "All Talking" musicals and some amazing songs came out of them - this episode explores some of the best!

Masters of the ivories - Blues and Jazz piano recorded in the 20s and early 30s are explored in this episode

Okeh, Columbia and Victor were the first major record companies to explore the rices of recording local music in New Orleans - PARENTI's LIBERTY SYNCOPATORS , SAM MORGAN, MISSISSIPPI SHIEKS, JOE FALCON andf many others were recorded during theise early "field trips" This episode just scratches the surface

From unissued hot jazz sides to songs of wind and rain! Best to experience the HURRICANE from your radios' speaker!

From 1923 on many bands and blues singers were recorded in and near the Windy City - Chicago up until the late mid-1920s was he mecca Roaring 20s Nite Life and jazz- We offer an hour of great performances from CHICAGO!

Clever ways of singing sbout taboo subjects were commonplace in Blues recordings and even pop tunes! We will play a fun selection of the naughty blues and more here!

During the 1880s-1930's Immigrants from all over Europe flocked to the New Land - most with nothing more than the shirts on their backs and what ever they could salvage of the cultures they left behind..music being a cartable, free commodity and New York City was the center of most of the "Ethnic" recordings made in the new land Italian, Greek, Irish, Jewish, African and more- this episode explores the patchwork of musical cultures that is America - enjoy a second edition of this timeless...

Sadly, the clarinet has fallen by the wayside in modern jazz- but it's place in early jazz and swing cannot be denied. This episode will focus on some of the leading and most influential of the pre-war clarinetists - Johnny Dodds and Benny Goodman included!

Jelly Roll Morton was one of the most colorful characters of early jazz- story teller, band leader, piano man, innovator. American Grooves presents a two parter dedicated to his genius and stories - some of them in his own words!

The late Rich Conaty was the voice behind the Big Broadcast radio program for near thirty years. An old friend and inspiration - we will present a series of episodes dedicated to Rich and focused on the sort of thing he played on his BIG BROADCAST - Boswells, Mills Bros, Cab, Whitemans, Hendersons, Armstrongs, Aaronsons and plenty of BING!

The late Rich Contay was the voice behind the Big Broadcast radio program for near thirty years. An old friend and inspiration - we will present a series of episodes dedicated to Rich and focused on the sort of thing he played on his BIG BROADCAST - Boswells, Mills Bros, Cab, Whiteman's, Hendersons, Armstrongs, Aaronsons and plenty of BING!

Chick Bullock, Charlie Palloy, Russ Columbo and so many others followed in the path of Bing - Once the microphone was incorporated into recording a softer more intimate style of singing became the rage - lets' here some of these fellows!

Back before spotify and MTV music was played in the living rooms of America - what could be more convienient then starting a band with your folks! - this broadcast presents an amazing array of family bands from Nat King Cole's to thre Boswell Sisters!