August 2021 – Centuries of Sound

Time: 6pm BST, Sunday 22nd August 2021
Place: Cambridge 105 Radio

Another trip into history with James Errington. This time we’re in 1929, when the roaring twenties comes crashing to a halt. Aside from American jazz, blues, country and vaudeville, we have recordings from Cuba, Portugal, Tunisia, Japan, India and even a couple from the UK, all in an end of term party for a decade and an era.

You can listen to the show on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps, or play the whole extended version on this handy mixcloud player.

The CoS Tapes are a series of CD-sized compilations available to Centuries of Sounds Members. A donation $5 per month will give you access to these compilations and other member benefits. Join here.

John Philip Sousa’s world was a regimented one, as befitted a military band man, but when he left trombonist Arthur Pryor alone to record some “tinned music” he inadvertently created one of the most extravagant moments in turn-of-the-century music. Soon brass soloists of all varieties were competing to fill two minutes of wax with the most excessive collection of flourishes and sfx they could muster. By the late 1900s they had all apparently calmed down – but for a decade at least the peacocks were producing some of the most exciting music ever recorded.

01 – Bohumir Kryl – Arbucklenian Polka (1903)
02 – Arthur Pryor with Sousa’s Band – The Patriot (1901)
03 – Herbert L. Clarke And John Hazel – The Friendly Rivals (1905)
04 – Bohumir Kryl – Carnival Of Venice (1902)
05 – Sousa’s Band – Trombone Sneeze (1902)
06 – Bohumir Kryl – Sweet Sixteen Waltz (1904)
07 – Leo A. Zimmerman & The Edison Concert Band – Leona Polka (1903)
08 – Columbia Orchestra – Sea Flower Polka (1897)
09 – Bohumir Kryl – King Carnival (1905)
10 – John Hazel & The Edison Military Band – Secret Polka (1903)
11 – Bohumir Kryl – Russian Fantasia (with Variations) (1902)
12 – John Hazel, Frank R. Seltzer And The Edison Military Band – Two Of Us (1904)
13 – Bohumir Kryl – Sing, Smile, Slumber (1906)
14 – Albert Bode & Columbia Band – Seashell Waltz (1903)
15 – Bohumir Kryl – National Fantasia (1903)
16 – Bohumir Kryl – Kryl’s Favorite (1904)
17 – John C Martin – Arbucklenian Polka (1901)
18 – Sousa’s Band with Arthur Pryor – Love Thoughts Waltz (1898)

All these years (mixes only)

1859-1860 1878-1885 1887-1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

A different country (context)