We continue our tour of America’s great jazz cities with the long-lost jazz and blues traditions of St. Louis, from the turn-of-the-century Mississippi River riverboat economy to St. Louis’ favorite son Miles Davis growing up in the Gateway City. We’ll talk with historian Kevin Belford about St. Louis’ rich blues heritage that got written out of the jazz history books, explore how Father of the Blues W.C. Handy’s hard luck time in St. Louis inspired one of the music’s all time classics, and hear how the blues spread from this city across the country.

Episode Transcript

Host: Jeff Haas

Guests: Kevin Belford, Phillip Dunlap, Ben Cawthra

Music

• Big Joe Williams “Baby Please Don't Go”
• Robert Nighthawk “Crying Won’t Help You”
• Jimmy Forrest “Night Train”
• George E. Lee “Won’t You Come Over To My House?”
• Scott Joplin “Pine Apple Rag”
• Fate Marable “Frankie and Johnny”
• Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra “Singin’ The Blues”
• Chas Creath “I Woke Up Cold In Hand”
• Miles Davis “If I Were a Bell”
• Dewey Jackson and His Peacock Orchestra “She's Crying for Me”
• Miles Davis “I Thought About You”
• Miles Davis “Old Folks”
• Peggy Lee “You Came a Long Way from St. Louis”
• Chet Atkins “Memphis Blues”
• Art Tatum “St. Louis Blues”
• Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues”
• Billy Eckstine “St. Louis Blues”
• Dizzy Gillespie “St. Louis Blues”
• Les Paul and Mary Ford “St. Louis Blues”
• Stump Johnson “Blues for Lindy”

To see some of the artwork in Kevin Belford’s book, Devil at the Confluence, go to the Devil at the Confluence blog.

Original Air Date: May 4, 2012

Radio broadcast produced by Lou Blouin and Jeff Haas

Radio broadcast audio engineering by Jack Conners and Brock Mormon

Podcast audio remastering by Sam Boase-Miller

Transcripts by Erik Saras

Theme Song: Jeff Haas Trio & Friends “Giving In”

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The New Jazz Archive radio broadcasts originally sponsored by Chateau Chantal. The New Jazz Archive receives no revenue from podcast reissues of radio broadcasts.