Novelty Ragtime

Clarence Williams made his living as a music publisher, pianist, accompanist and organizer of recording ensembles during the 1920s and '30s. His variously sleepy, scruffy or gritty little jazz bands were usually driven by cornet, clarinet, tuba, jug and washboard players. Whoop It Up! is...

Coleman Hawkins was the first major jazz saxophonist, debuting on records in 1921 and really coming into his own with his solo on "The Stampede" in 1925. The World Saxophone Quartet, the first important a cappella saxophone section in jazz, was founded in 1976. However, the Six Brown...

Banjo virtuoso Harry Reser (1896-1965) was one of the busiest and most prolific bandleaders and session men of the 1920s. His massive recorded output was released under more than 175 pseudonyms, including the Tickle Toe Ten, the Volunteer Firemen, Jack's Fast Steppin' Bellhops, Si...

The first two decades of the 20th century were a time of great change for jazz -- in 1902, agtime was just beginning to be acknowledged as a force on popular music, and by 1923 the Jazz Age was in full flower. Although jazz did not debut on record until 1919 with the first recordings of the...

Nostalgia is a key ingredient in this twin piano session pairing Dick Hyman and John Sheridan, performing popular novelty tunes of the 1920s and 1930s. This genre of music was so named because of the little flourishes added by their composers to bring attention to them, which of course they did....

Vintage Musical Productions does it again! Hot Flashes: Rare High Quality Short Lived Bands features the now-underground jazz of the 1920s and '30s. The tunes collected here are mostly by acts that cut only a couple of sides and disappeared into the ether of musical history. The only...