1920s Jazz Age

Jazz thrived through the 1920s and by the 1930s jazz was flourishing in both Britain and America.

The ‘Original Dixieland Band’ (ODJB) from New Orleans made the first-ever jazz record in 1917 (‘Livery Stable Blues/Dixie Jass Band One Step’) and their arrival in London for a long season at Hammersmith Palais in 1919 had included a Command Performance for King George V. Their arrival, along with more new 1920s jazz recordings by American names including cornettist Red Nichols (and a little later Louis Armstrong) spawned a whole new generation of young British and European jazz musicians including trumpeter Nat Gonella, all of whom would go on to their own successful careers in the UK. In America Swing was now the thing amid a whole new generation of instrumental stars including clarinettist Benny Goodman (dubbed ‘The King of Swing’from 1935) and new singers too; amongst them the great Billie Holiday . In Britain one key figure was Patrick Cairns ‘Spike’ Hughes who played a tin double bass and recorded prolifically for the Decca label with his British orchestra and small group ‘Decca-Dents’. In 1933 Hughes travelled to New York to produce classic recordings with his all-star ‘All American Orchestra’ and his original hand-written scores for this ground-breaking project including ‘Donegal Cradle Song’ (which you can see in the case) are held here at The Jazz Centre UK.

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