Jazz Unlimited on Sunday, July 20 will feature “The Jazz History of St. Louis, Part 3: World War II and Its Aftermath." The period saw the formation of the George Hudson Orchestra and the early careers of Miles Davis, Clark Terry, Jimmy Forrest, Ernie Wilkins, Charles Fox, Chris Woods, Velma Middleton and Arvell Shaw. Some of the rare recordings include the recording debut of Wendell Marshall, two tunes recorded by Jimmy Forrest at the Bolo Club, a recording by the Tommy Dean Band, a V-disc recording by Clark Terry and His Section Eights, a recording made in St. Louis by the Cleanhead Vinson big band and a wartime broadcast from Jefferson Barracks by the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. During this period, new clubs opened such as the Glass Bar and Club Riviera, but they were soon feeling the pinch of the entertainment tax when the war ended and many closed. We will hear the voices of the people who made the history: Miles Davis, Clark Terry, Eddie Randle, Ernie Wilkins and Charlie Menees, who was the first jazz disc jockey in St. Louis.
Check out the historical photographs in the slide show.
This Archive of the show will be available until the morning of July 28, 2014.
Here is a "Soundie" of the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra doing Rhythm Is Our Business and Nagasaki in the 1930's.
