Sleigh rides in July, swinging Santas, holidays in Harlem, ca. 1920s-1940s. Music: Swingin' Them Jingle Bells (1936) - Fats Waller & His Rhythm; Santa Claus Came in the Spring (1935) - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra; Santa Claus Blues (1924) - Eva Taylor, Clarence Williams' Blue Five; I Told Santa Claus to Bring Me You (1937) - Bernie Cummins, Holiday in Harlem (1937) - Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Webb; Snowy Morning Blues (V-disc 1943) - James P. Johnson; Winter Weather (1941) - Fats Waller & His Rhythm; Snowfall (1941) - Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra; I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (1937) - Billie Holiday; Christmas Morning Blues (1926) - Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson; Santa Claus Crave (1927) - Elzadie Robinson; Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back (1928) - Ozie Ware, Duke Ellington Hot Five; At the Christmas Ball (1925) - Bessie Smith; Christmas Night in Harlem (1934) - Paul Whiteman; Winter Weather (1941) - Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman.

"In a Mist": Jazz expanded its world with classical music beginning in the 1920s — borrowing attributes, techniques and sometimes making arrangements. Music: Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five: West End Blues (rec. 1928), Cornet Chop Suey (rec. 1926); Debussy: "Voile" Prelude Book 1, No. 2 (1910) (Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli); Bix Beiderbecke: In a Mist (1927); J.S. Bach 2-Part Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772 (Angela Hewitt, piano); Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines Weather Bird, (rec. 1928); Summer Ridge Drive - Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five (rec. 1940); Jelly-Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers Pontchartrain (1930); Jack Teagarden, Stars Fell On Alabama (rec. 1933); Duke Ellington & The Jungle Band Mood Indigo; John Kirby Sextet: Bounce of the Sugar Plum Fairy (rec. 1941), Lucia Sextet (rec. 1940), Mr. Haydn Gets Hip (1940); Raymond Scott: Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals (1937);

Halloween’s ghosts and goblins found a natural home in New Orleans — cradle of jazz, city of spirits and second-line magic, and where the music can rouse the dead… or at least get the ghosts dancing.

Music: The Skeleton in the Closet - Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey Orch. (1936 ); Theme: Delta Serenade - Duke Ellington (1940); I'm a Jazz Vampire (1920) - Marion Harris; Dry Bones -Fats Waller and His Rhythm 1940; Skull Duggery - Hot Lips Page and His Band (1938); Boogaboo - Jelly Roll Morton (1928); A Ghost of a Chance - Mildred Bailey (1939); Mr. Ghost Is Goin’ to Town - Louis Prima (1936); The Ghost of Smokey Joe - Cab Calloway (1939); Abercrombie Had A Zombie - Fats Waller and His Rhythm (1940); Haunted House Blues - Bessie Smith (1924); Blue Spirit Blues - Bessie Smith (1929); Ghost of Yesterday - Billie Holiday (1940);

Music: "Wrappin' It Up" (1934); "Wha-Cha-Call ’em Blues" (1925); "D Natural Blues" (1928); "An American in Paris" (1928) (excerpt); “Radio Rhythm” (1931); “Tidal Wave” (1934); "Happy As The Day Is Long" (1934); "Hotter Than ’Ell" (1934); “Wrappin’ It Up” (1935); "Down South Camp Meeting” (1934, 1936); "King Porter Stomp" (1932, 1935); "Stealin' Apples" (1936, 1937); "Can You Take It" (1933); "The Stampede" (1937).

Composers/Arrangers: Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Bill Challis, Horace Henderson, Benny Carter, Nat Leslie, Russ Morgan, Harold Arlen, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, Jelly Roll Morton.

Put And Take (Adrian Rollini, bass sax, hot fountain pen, Joe Venuti's Blue Four, 1930); Delta Serenade - Theme (Duke Ellington, 1940); I'm Coming Virginia (Sidney Bechet, sop sax, & His New Orleans Feetwarmers, 1941); Wang Wang Blues (Rollini, "goofus", The Goofus Five, 1927); Knockin' on wood (Red Norvo, xylophone, 1933); Jazz Me Blues (Adrian Rollini Trio, vibes, chimes, 1950); Girls Like You Were Meant For Boys Like Me (Red McKenzie's Mound City Blue Blowers, comb, 1930); For No Reason at All in C (Frankie Trumbauer, C melody sax 1927); Wild Cat, (Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, 1927); Junk Man (Jack Teagarden, Caspar Reardon, harp, 1934); Sweet Sue (Dave Apollon, mandolin, 1933); Sugar (Alberta Hunter, Fats Waller pipe organ (1927); Summit Ridge Drive (Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five, Johnny Guarnieri, harpsichord, 1940); Mr. J.B. Blues (Jimmie Blanton, bass, Duke Ellington, 1940).

A 60 min. version of the Jelly Roll Morton episode. More tunes! More details.

Music: (Original) Jelly Roll Blues (1910; rec. 1923); King Porter Stomp (1923); Alan Lomax Library of Congress Interviews (1938); Black Bottom Stomp” (1926); The Crave (1910; rec. 1938); The Pearls (1927); Maple Leaf Rag (1899; rec. 1938); Grandpa’s Spells (1926); Shreveport (Stomp) (1929; Freakish (1929); Hyena Stomp (1927) Sidewalk Blues (1926); Mamie’s Blues (1900; rec. 1938); Doctor Jazz (1926).

Performers: Jelly Roll Morton, The Red Hot Peppers.

Whether or not Jelly Roll Morton actually invented jazz, as he famously claimed, his remarkable journey from Storyville to the Library of Congress is worth reconsidering. Blends commentary, historic recordings, and interviews to reveal Morton’s genius, contradictions, and enduring role in shaping the sound and story of early jazz. Music: "Original Jelly Roll Blues" (1924), “King Porter Stomp” (1923), Alan Lomax interviews, Library of Congress (1938), “Black Bottom Stomp” (1926), “The Pearls” (1926), "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899), “Grandpa’s Spells" (1926), “Shreveport Stomp” (1929), “Freakish” (1929), "Mamie's Blues" (1900), “Doctor Jazz” (1926). Performers: Jelly Roll Morton, The Red Hot Peppers.

John Hammond was a visionary jazz producer and talent scout who discovered or championed Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, and Lester Young. A tireless advocate for integration, he helped break racial barriers in jazz, produced historic recordings, and brought Black artists to wider audiences through concerts and radio.

Music: Count Basie: "One O'Clock Jump" (1937), Bessie Smith: "Downhearted Blues" (1923); Garland Wilson: "St. James Infirmary/ When Your Lover Has Gone" (1931); Billie Holiday: “Your Mother’s Son-in-Law” (1933); Billie Holiday: "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" (1935); Benny Goodman: "After You've Gone" (1935); From Spirituals to Swing, 1938.