This week, Roy journeys back to the dawn of recorded sound via the RRR shellac archives for a celebration of some early African American musical pioneers. Things kick off with a 1909 78 of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” from the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The show winds up in 1935 with a Coleman Hawkins Decca disc of “What Harlem Means To Me”
In between, you’ll hear gems from Bert Williams (1913), Kokomo Arnold (1934), Bessie Smith’s debut single (1923), Viola McCoy with Fletcher Henderson’s Jazz Five (1924), Cannon’s Jug Stompers (1928), Blind Mamie Forehand (1927), the Spirits of Rhythm (1933), and more.