The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'm trying to find Jazz records from the twenties that aren't Paul Whiteman or other generic white bands. All of the black records I find in stores are racist ass minstrel and comedy. Do they exist?

Jazz from the late 20's and early 30's is no mystery. Look for...

Louis Armstrong
Bix Beiderbecke
Johnny Dodds
Frank Trumbauer
King Oliver
Clarence Williams
Jelly-Roll Morton


... and many more.

If you want earlier 20's, look for Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

However, if you're just looking for records in shops, you're not likely to stumble across the "good stuff". Burn up a little bit of time on YouTube, listening to bands that you like. Armed with that, go to eBay and search for those records/bands. You could also go about it the other way around. Finding interesting records on eBay, then sampling them on YouTube. That's not the cheapest way to go, but good, Jazz records aren't very cheap anyway. Still, there's "good stuff" at somewhat reasonable prices. The popular stuff, that most collectors already have, is relatively cheap. (The really rare stuff, that brings big money, was sometimes rare because it wasn't really very good to begin with. Just my opinion there.) Buy only from sellers that regularly sell 78rpm records. It's a better chance of receiving records that haven't been broken in shipping.

Thanks!

A lot of well-known musicians of the time and ones that later had their work recognized had recordings made of them but not in large number.

The race record business, as it was called, was still emerging in the 1920s. King Oliver & Pinetop Smith are well-known both in their day and now, but their original record are expensive.

If you do not care about the record being "an original pressing" or "first pressing", the British Rhythm Society & Hot Jazz Club of America out of Brooklyn N.Y reissued a lot of rare jazz from the 20s, still on 78.

The UK Parlophone Jazz Classical and Super Rhythm Series reissued many records from the 1920's and 1930's.

Alyssa, in some ways "white" Jazz from the 1920s and early 30s are more integrated than you might realize. There are some Ted Lewis sides like "Royal Garden Blues" and "Crazy Bout My Baby" that have Fats Waller prominently featured. Bubber Miley did some great trumpet work on Leo Reisman sides (of all things!) in the late 1920s and early 30s. Fats Waller and Jack Teagarden made some fantastic sides for Columbia together in the early 1930s... one great one is "Chances Are" under the direction of Ben Selvin. Also, it's a well kept secret that Jean Goldkette was actually a band manager and McKinney's Cotton Pickers was one band he managed. After Whiteman hired away his best personnel, he integrated several McKinney's musicians into his namesake bands and they produced some super hot sides like "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and "Birmingham Bertha". Eva Taylor made some great records with Ben Selvin and The Charleston Chasers. Billie Holiday made her first records with Benny Goodman on Columbia in 1933-4. Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton started with Goodman as well. Tommy Dorsey hired Sy Oliver away from Jimmie Lunceford and they made some great records together- one that caused a scandal was "Yes Indeed" from 1941. Sy wrote and arranged the tune, and did a back- and- forth vocal refrain with Jo Stafford that caused a stir for the obvious stupid reasons. It was said that Dorsey thought the uproar was great, LOL.

Bennie Moten records on Victor with William Basie and James Rushing are a treat, as are the early Andy Kirk Brunswicks. Anything King Oliver or Dave Nelson is well worth the investment.
Also, Columbia put out a "Hot Jazz" album set series during the early 1940s musicians union strike that were very good quality repressings of OKeh "race" sides from the 1920s. If you find these, grab them.