Jazz Unlimited on Sunday, July 6 will be the first installment of the ten-week radio documentary on the jazz history of St. Louis. Not only do we have the music, but also we have interviews with the people who made that history. The interviewees for the first installment include St. Louis historian Judge Nathan Young, internationally known ragtime expert Trebor Jay Tichenor, tuba player Singleton Palmer, bandleader Eddie Johnson, trumpeters Clark Terry and David Hines and the great-grandson of the man who started the St. Louis trumpet tradition, Charles Creath IV. We will hear music from Tom Turpin, Scott Joplin, Charles Creath, Dewey Jackson and many others.
We will answer the following questions about St. Louis history.
- Who was the real king of ragtime in St. Louis?
- How big a part did ragtime music have in the 1904 World’s Fair?
- Were the bands on the excursion boats jazz bands or the Roaring 20’s equivalent of modern cover bands?
- Did his nearly yearlong stay in St. Louis affect Bix Beiderbecke’s music?
Check out the historic photos in the slide show.
This Archive of the show will be available until the morning of July 14, 2014.
Here is Trebor Tichebor playing "Harlem Rag" in San Francisco in 2008
