This group is about listening to jazz and blues music of the 1920s through 1950s, on 78 rpm records. The best way to hear this music is in the original format in which it was recorded, distributed, and experienced—it is more vibrant and alive than later remastered versions in other formats, at least to my ears. If nothing else it is worth a try if you’ve never really heard the original before!
Whether you are already a fan of the blues and jazz, or just want to hear and learn about some of America’s greatest music, we want you to join us whenever you can. All the information you need is right on this website.
We have two formats for this experience (see below for details about both): Zoom listening sessions, and monthly live in-person listening sessions held at the Spirit Room here in Rochester. We’ll post information on upcoming sessions here, so can always check back to see when the next session will be. There is also a Facebook group called ‘Lakeview Hot Record Club’, so please feel free to join that group if you use Facebook, as that is a good way to engage in discussions about the sessions, and this music.
Please tell your friends, and anyone else who may be interested in this music! All the sessions are free—all you have to do is show up!
Thanks…
—= Gian Carlo Cervone =—
Please email giancarlo@lakeviewhotrecordclub.org to be added to our mailing list.
Zoom Listening Sessions
Next Zoom Session
- Sunday, November 10, 7:00-10:00pm Eastern
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88118181643?pwd=yZd0000EDtpnxKYySs2bIOd7om6RG1.1
This will be a special Veteran‘s Day session with mostly jazz and blues from the World War II years, with some pop music from WW I and later for variety. Also a special segment on the Korean War period.
Artists will include: Albert Ammons, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Don Byas, Una Mae Carlisle, Harry Carney, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Blind John Davis, Fats Domino, Sam Donahue, Champion Jack Dupree, Harry Edison, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, The Five Blind Boys, Benny Goodman, Glen Gray, Johnny Guarnieri, Jimmy Harrison, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Billie Holiday, Bob Hope, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Harry James, Helen Forrest, Al Jolson, Jo Jones, Louis Jordan, Gene Krupa, J.B. Lenoir, Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, The Mills Brothers, Roy Milton, Hot Lips Page, Roosevelt Sykes, Buddy Tate, Jack Teagarden, Paul Whiteman, Clarence Williams, Cootie Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson, Teddy Wilson, and Lester Young, including lots of Vdiscs!
In-Person Listening Sessions
Next In-Person Session
Thursday, November 14, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
I'll be spinning jazz and blues music from the 1920's through 1950s on original 78 rpm records live the second Thursday of each month at the Spirit Room, 139 State Street, Rochester, NY — it’s a whole different listening experience to hear these classic recordings in their original format!
Please stop out if you can and have a look and listen at these gems! Spirit Room has great food and atmosphere and all are welcome. Please share with anyone you think would like to know.
Please note later start time due to prior event at the venue.
The Music
There is a wide variety of music you can hear on 78 rpm records—we focus on jazz and blues—the background image on this webpage shows records all of which might be heard at one of these listening sessions. Blues records range from the blueswomen of the 1920s such as Bessie Smith, Rosa Henderson, and many other through the acoustic and electric sounds of Chicago including artists such as Tampa Red, Big Maceo Merriweather, Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup, Jimmy Yancey, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and others, as well as electic sounds of Walter Brown, Roy Brown, Jimmy Witherspoon, Crown Prince Waterford, B. B. King, Helen Humes, and more… On the jazz side, we go from early 1920s recordings of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, to early big bands of Bennie Moten, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington, to small and large bands and artists of the swing era such as Chick Webb, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Woody Herman, Bunny Berigan, and there is always something fantastic by Louis Armstrong! We also hear the more modern sounds of the bebop and cool styles of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, as well as numerous lesser-known greats.
A typical playlist is given below, taken from one of the Zoom listening sessions, but each session varies widely in the material chosen, sometimes following a them such as ’music of Kansas City’, or ‘what to listen for in 1920s jazz’.
Sample Playlist
- 1943 – James P. Johnson — Carolina Balmoral — Blue Note 25-B
- 1938 – Blind Boy Fuller – She’s a Truckin’ Little Baby — Columbia 37155
- 1946 – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup – Ethel Mae — Victor 20-1949-B
- 1944 – Big Joe and His Rhythm (Joe McCoy) – I’m All Right Now – Bluebird 34-0723-A
- 1941 – Jay McShann w/Walter Brown – New Confessin’ the Blues – Decca 8595 A
- 1945 – Jay McShann and his Jazz-Men w/Jimmy Witherspoon – Confessing the Blues – Philo P108A
- 1947 – Helen Humes and Buck Clayton’s Orchestra – They Raided the Joint – Mercury 8056-B
- 1939 – Count Basie and his Orchestra w/Helen Humes – And the Angels Sing – Vocalion 4784
- 1928 – McKinney’s Cotton Pickers – Four or Five Times – Victor 21583-A
- 1933 – Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra – Ol’ Man River – Brunswick 6800
- 1932 – Claude Hopkins and his Orchestra – Mad Moments – Columbia 2665-D
- 1933 – Earl Hines and his Orchestra – Harlem Lament – Brunswick 6771
- 1933 – Earl Hines and his Orchestra – Cavernism – Brunswick 6541
- 1934 – Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra – Wrappin’ it Up – Decca 157 B
- 1934 – Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra – Limehouse Blues – Decca 157 A
- 1938 – Edgar Hayes and his Orchestra – In the Mood – Decca 1882 B
- 1952 – Benny Carter and his Orchestra – Cruisin’ – Victor 20-5389
- 1944 – Tiny Grimes Quintette – Red Cross – Savoy 541-A
- 1944 – Clyde Hart’s Hot Seven – Little Benny – Savoy 598-B
- 1945 – Dizzy Gillespie – I Can’t Get Started – Columbia 30147
- 1946 – Illinois Jacquet – Jacquet and Coat – Savoy 910-B
- 1949 – Bud Powell Trio – Celia – Mercury 11046
- 1940 – Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra – After Hours – Victor 20-1977-A
Allied Groups
Hot Club of NY
This is the Cadillac of hot clubs! Hosted by Matthew ‘Fat Cat’ Rivera, the Hot Club of NY presents a free listening session on Zoom every Monday 7:00-10:00pm as well as live events in New York City. Some rare recordings can be heard here, and there is usually lively discussion amongst a large group of knowledgeable fans! They often welcome a significant guest related in some way to the music, and many current jazz historians and musicians frequently take part.
You can visit the Hot Club of NY on the web and on Facebook.
Thursday Jazz Potpourri
In conjunction with Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Jazz History Database (JHD), and the former Worcester Hot Club, this group has a number of listening sessions on Zoom starting with their Lab session at 3:00pm, hosted by Ben Young, which features an in-depth look at material held by the JHD, often which is unavailable elsewhere. After that there are various listening sessions, often involving 78 rpm records spun by Charles Iselin (Hot Club of New York), Gian Carlo Cervone, and others. The topics and subgenres vary widely and it is always interesting!. They have an email list, which you can probably join by posting in the Facebook group. If you're on my email list, you'll get a repost of their emails too.
Join them on Facebook
The Hot Club of Pittsburgh
Hosted by early jazz pianist Tom Roberts, The Hot Club of Pittsburgh regularly hosts Zoom and in-person listening sessions and other events. Often the themes are related to Pittsburgh’s rich musical history, and resurrecting the discarded music of Pittsburgh. Check them out to find out all about that!
Join them on Facebook
78 rpm records
The discs that we listen to are mostly 10" or 12" in diameter—most are made of a shellac compound, and are rather brittle, although some of the later ones are made of a vinyl compound—often called ‘unbreakable’ on the label, they are usually more flexible and less prone to breaking or cracking. The sound quality varies with the company, time of manufacture, and quality of materials. Records made during the war, when shellac was in short supply, are particularly variable. There is a single performance on each side, lasting up to around 3 minutes on a 10" record and 4.5 minutes on a 12" record. The grooves in these records are wider than those on LPs and 45s, and require a different kind of playback stylus. Sometimes records were issued in sets of from 3 to 6 discs, contained in a binder called an ‘album’—this is where the vernacular name later used for LPs has come from, where the entire contents of an album of 78 rpm records could be contained on a single microgroove disc that became known as an ‘album’.