Your Favourite Music from the 1920s?

Bessie Smith, hands down. And yes, if I had to, I'd take it over Louis Armstrong's 20s output.

I'm on a Clara Smith kick at the moment, though she's not in the running.

 

I'm not too up on music in the 20's but I do have the Louis Armstrong Hot 5 and Hot 7 box set, much of which, I believe, was recorded in the 20's. I'll to dig that out and give it listen one of these days.

 

Some of my favourites are The Casa Loma Ochestra and anything really with that big swing band sound. Wonderful!

 

the 1920s were when electronic instruments really started to become viable, and this was essentially the beginning of the brand-new genre of 'electric music.' the theremin was invented in 1919, the ondes martinot in 1928, and the trautonium in 1930, so it was a pretty exciting decade in music technology.

it wouldn't be until a bit later that music for these instruments would be well-developed--like Clara Rockmore's performances on the theremin or Messiaen's works for ondes martinot in the 30s--but I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to be at one of Léon Theremin's demonstrations of 'music from the ether' he toured around the states in the mid-20s.

 

Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Antheil, Ives, Ruggles, Varese, to name a few.

 

Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra

 

For me, the most significant innovators of the time were Armstrong and Stravinsky.

But here are a couple lesser lights spun and enjoyed around here.

Ben Bernie:

 

Abe Lyman:

 

It's been my favorite musical decade for a long time... Sorry for the extended list, I like a lot from this era, with these artists probably my current favorites:

Louis Armstrong
Lovie Austin
Bix Beiderbecke
Blind Blake
Blue Grass Footwarmers
Blue Rhythm Orchestra
Perry Bradford
Gus Cannon
Hoagy Carmichael and His Pals
The Chocolate Dandies
Buddy Christian
Chas. Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs
Clay Custer
Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dunn
Duke Ellington
Five Musical Blackbirds
Gulf Coast Seven
Harlem Harmony Kings
Fletcher Henderson
Eddie Heywood and His Jazz Six
Mississippi John Hurt
Jackson and His Southern Stompers
Papa Charlie Jackson
Jeanette's Synco Jazzers
The Jim-Dandies
Charlie Johnson
James P. Johnson's Harmony Eight
Tommy Johnson
Richard M. Jones
Willie Jones and His Orchestra
Kansas City Five
Lill's Hot Shots
Louisiana Sugar Babes
Charles A. Matson
George McClennon
Blind Willie McTell
William Moore
Thomas Morris Past Jazz Masters
Jelly Roll Morton
New Orleans Blue Five
Norfolk Jazz and Jubilee Quartets
King Oliver
Paramount All Stars
Charley Patton
Piron's New Orleans Orchestra
Ma Rainey
Luis Russell
Seminole Syncopators
Six Black Diamonds
Leroy Smith and His Orchestra
Sammy Stewart and His Ten Knights Of Syncopation
Jasper Taylor and His State Street Boys
Texas Blues Destroyers
Frank Trumbauer
Thomas "Fats" Waller
Sylvester Weaver
Clarence Williams
John Williams

 

Louis Armstrong
Bix Beiderbecke
Duke Ellington
Jelly Roll Morton
Rosa Ponselle
Bessie Smith
Igor Stravinsky
Paul Whiteman

 

Louis
Duke

 

Ellington
Stravinsky

 

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington would top my list of 1920s favorites. Sorta obvious, I know. But I love their music best.

More early jazz that I wouldn't want to live without:
- Sidney Bechet
- Johnny Dodds
- Earl Hines
- James P. Johnson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Jimmy Noone
- Luis Russell's Orchestra (esp. Henry "Red" Allen and J.C. Higginbotham)
- Bessie Smith

 

George Gershwin
Cliff Edwards

 

Lonely Melody by Bix sounds still fresh and active to my ears.

 

Boy it's hard to pick --
the Armstrong Hot 5s and 7s;
Dock Boggs' Brunswick recordings;
Varese's "Arcana";
Ravel's arrangement of "Pictures at an Exhibition";
Blind Willie Johnson's '20s sessions;
Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1;
Arizona Dranes' Okeh recordings;
Jimmie Rodgers' earliest blue yodels, "In the Jailhouse Now," "Waiting for a Train";

That's probably the stuff from that decade that I find myself listening too most often. Also the early Fletcher Henderson stuff esp. with Coleman Hawkins and Armstrong; and the Charlie Poole stuff esp as collected on the You Ain't Talking to Me box.

 

The Carter Family:

 

I enjoy almost anything written by Gershwin, Arlen, Warren, Carmichael, Porter or Berlin.

 

Duke Ellington
Cab Calloway
Charlie Patton
Mississippi John Hurt
Blind Willie McTell
...

 

Duke Ellington
and more recently Fletcher Henderson and his guys.

I'm amazed at how good a lot of the recordings of the era are. Just one mic, right?

 

OK, this recording is from 1930, but Louis did Tiger rag in concert in the 20´s too. This is punk tempo long before punk was born. I love it!

 

A lot of Blues artists including -

Bessie Smith
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Charlie Patton
Big Bill Bronzy
Lonnie Johnson

 

Charlie Poole and his North Carolina Ramblers.

 

I defy your toes not to start tapping after listening to this: