Max Easterman looks at the changes and developments that took place in jazz up to the 1940s, often triggered by non-musical events.
In each of six programmes, he concentrates on a single year.
1: 1926. The major event was the switching by record companies from acoustic to electric recording, benefiting not only listeners but also arrangers.
Don Redman , who worked for Fletcher Henderson 's
Orchestra, no longer had to scale down arrangements for recording sessions.
Other leading bands of the time were King Oliver's Jazz Band, Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers and Benny Moten 's Kansas City Orchestra.
Producer Derek Drescher