As I’ve listened to old time radio, I’ve acquired a taste for classic Jazz, particularly the instrumentals.

However, old time radio music can be hard to find unless you know what you’re looking for.  Over the next three weeks, we’ll be sharing some great sources for finding classic music, and we’ll start with some Jazzy Stuff.

The Big Band Remotes:

The Internet Archive features two seperate sets of Big Band Remotes featuring greats such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Armstrong, and much more. This is a treasure trove of great Jazz:

Band Remotes

Bind Band Remotes

AFRS Jive:

When Americans went overseas to fight World War II, the Armed Forces Radio Services played a critical role in maintaining morale, as they shared radio programs and music programs from back home. The Jazz program for the AFRS was, “GI Jive.” A nice collection of these recordings is available here along with other AFRS programs such as, “Mail Call.”  Two smaller but slightly better quality versions of twenty GI Jive are available here and here.

1920s Jazz Collection:

Not actually old time rado, but rather some very early Jazz 78 records.  Still, this collection of truly Golden oldies aged to 80-95 years old is worth a listen, thought not all of the 120 + songs would be qualified as jazz.

Bing Crosby:

Bing Crosby was an American institution for decades, and he made a lot of radio appearances and hosted many radio show. The Internet Archive has two Bing Crosby collections. The first is an eclectic selection of Crosby radio shows from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.  Many of these are of lower 24kbps quality, but there are some good recordings in there as well.  The second collection is the Old Time Radio Researchers set of the Bing Crosby-Rosemany Clooney show that ran from 1960-62 . Between these two collection, there’s more than 400 episodes of Bing Crosby radio available.

Al Jolson:

Jolson was one of the most noted entertainers in Vaudeville and early films, including the classic, The Jazz Singer. The Al Jolson collection includes guest appearances on Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Eddie Cantor’s show, along with episodes he hosted for the Kraft Music Hall and the Shell Chateau.

Next week, we’ll take a look at some great country and folk music available. If you’ve got a program you’d like to share, let me know about it in the comments.