When Allen Lowe’s previous CD documentary, Minstrel to Mojo [American Pop] was released, it was acclaimed as one of the ten best boxed sets of the year by The New York Times and as the best independent production of the year in Pulse! magazine. Gary Giddins wrote in the U.S. magazine Modern Maturity (circulation: 23 million): “This astonishing trove of 215 selections lives up to its title . . . the sheer variety is overwhelming.”

Artists

Cousins and DeMoss and Studio ensemble, Len Spencer, Studio pianist, Bert Williams, Morton Harvey, George O'Connor, William Christopher Handy, Arthur Collins, Al Bernard, Wilbur Sweatman, J. Milton DeCamp, Mamie Smith, Sam Moore, Horace Davis, Edward Kid Ory, Nick Lucas, Marion Harris, Ethel Waters, Sophie Tucker, Jelly Roll Morton (piano), Sylvester Weaver, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, James Price Johnson, Jimmie Noone, Joe 'King' Oliver (trumpet), Baby Dodds, Bessie Smith (vocals), Fletcher Henderson (piano & bandleader), Eddie Cantor, Ed Andrews, Johnny Bayersdorfer, Rosa Henderson, Joe King Oliver and Butterbeans and Susie, Don Murray, Tommy Dorsey (trombone), Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Alberta Hunter, Lovie Austin, Jimmy O'Bryant, Tommy Ladnier, Roba Stanley, Bob Stanley, Andrew Jenkins, Studio guitarist, Hersal Thomas, Edna Thomas, Ben Harney, Wade Ward, Richard M. Jones, Albert Nicholas (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo & guitar), Papa Charlie Jackson, Louise Ross, Lee Morse, Louis Armstrong (trumpet & vocals), Charlie Green, Ma Rainey, Jimmy Blythe, Johnny Watson, Sippie Wallace, Arizona Dranes, Robert Cooksey, Bobbie Leecan, Freddie Keppard, Homer Quincy Smith, Studio organist, Hazel Meyers, Nolan Welsh, Bo Weavil Jackson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charles Gaylord, Austin Young, Jack Fulton, Willie Hall, Ferde Grofé, Harry Perella, Sam McGee, Uncle Dave Macon, Blind Willie Johnson, Andrew Baxter, Jim Baxter, Kirk McGee, Henry Thomas, Richard Brown, Reb Spikes, Johnny Dodds (saxophone & clarinet), Bud Scott, Lillian Hardin Armstrong, Thomas Morris, Blind Mamie Forehand, A.C. Forehand, Eddie Anthony, Henry Rubberlegs Williams, Luther Magby, Washington Phillips, Bill Rank, Frankie Trumbauer, Pee Wee Russell, Adrian Rollini, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Frank Signorelli, Chauncey Morehouse, Ernest Stoneman, Kahle Brewer, Dock Boggs, Meade Lux Lewis, Blind Connie Rosemond, Sara Martin, B.F. Shelton, Ruth Etting, Rube Bloom, Walter Rhodes, Duke Ellington (piano & bandleader), Adelaide Hall, Blind Joe Taggart, Bubber Miley, Will Ezell, Edward Clayborn, Sam Collins, Ed Bell, Gus Cannon, Blind Blake, David Crockett, Sam Jones (double bass), Margaret Johnson, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Gilliam Banmon Grayson, Henry Whitter, Chelsea Quealey, Bobby Davis, Al Duffy, Alger "Texas" Alexander, Lonnie Johnson (guitar), Paul Robeson (bass-baritone), Mae Frierson Moore, Jaybird Coleman, Tommy Johnson, Jim Jackson, Frank Stokes, George Gershwin, Henry L. Bandy, Robert Hicks, Pinetop Smith, Julius Daniels, George Williams, Rube Lacey, Rambling Thomas, Clarence Green, Lottie Kimbrough, Milas Pruitt, Annette Hanshaw, Moses Mason, Ernest Phipps, Roland Johnson, Ethel Baker, Ancil McVay, Eula Johnson, Shirley Jones, Dennis McGee, Mississippi John Hurt, Emmett Miller, Tom Nelson, T.C. Johnson, Helen Morgan, Bo Chatman, Walter Vinson, Charlie McCoy, Blind Simmie Dooley, Pink Anderson, William Moore, Cliff Edwards, Gladys Bentley, Bing Crosby (vocals), R.M. Massey, Frances Hereford, Richard Bryant, Frankie "Hal Pint" Jaxon, Bernice Edwards, Rosie Mae Moore, Furry Lewis, Earl Hines (piano & bandleader), Frank Hutchison, Dick Justice, Dock Walsh, Leo Soileau, Thomas A. Dorsey, Natty Dominique, Bill Johnson, Robert Wilkins, Raymond Barrow, Roy Evans, Johnnie Crockett, Albert Crockett, James Simons, Luke Jordan, Andy Sannella, Blind Teddy Darby, Roosevelt Sykes, Roosevelt Graves, Herve Duerson, Cow Cow Davenport, Unique Quartet Fall, Standard Quartette, Cousins and DeMoss, Studio ensemble, Dinwiddie Colored Quartet, Polk Miller Old South Quartette, Male quartet, Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, Europe Society Orchestra, Afro American Folk Song Singers, Victor Military Band, Prince's Orchestra, W.C. Handy Memphis Blues Band, Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Wilbur Sweatman Jazz Band, Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, Florida Normal Industrial Institute Quartet, Kid Ory Sunshine Orchestra, Jelly Roll Morton Orchestra, Homer Rodheaver and the Wiseman Quartet, Kentucky Trio, The Georgians, Old Southern Jug Band, Johnny Bayersdorffer Jazzola Novelty Orchestra, Paul Whiteman Dance Band, Levitsch Tanzorchester, Zez Confrey Orchestra, Butterbeans and Susie, Bix Beiderbecke Rhythm Jugglers, Two of Spades, New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Armand Piron's New Orleans Orchestra, Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, Roosevelt Graves and His Brother, Hendersonville Double Quartet, Pebbles, The, Kansas City Blues Strummers, Old Pal Smoke Shop Four, Dixieland Jug Blowers, Jubilee Singers, Studio vocal ensemble, Cookie Gingersnaps, Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Jelly-Roll Morton Red Hot Peppers, Red Heads, Jeanette James Synco Jazzers, Sol Hoopii's Novelty Trio, Louis Dumaine's Jazzola Eight, South Georgia Highballers, Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers, Burnett and Rutherford, King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators, Jimmy Blythe's Owls, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bix Beiderbecke Gang, Allen Brothers, Duke Ellington Kentucky Club Orchestra, Henry Johnson Boys, Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band, Jesse Stone's Blue Serenaders, Louis Armstrong Hot Seven, Down Home Boys, Stovepipe No. 1, Violet Harmony Singers, Barbour's Plantation Singers, Four Aces, Forbes Randolph's Kentucky Jubilee Choir, Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers, Memphis Jug Band, Cannon's Jug Stompers, Biddleville Quintet, Ernest Phipps Holiness Singers, Georgia Crackers, Johnson Boys, Denson Quartet, Benny Goodman's Boys, Johnny Dodds Trio, Frenchy's String Band, Jelly Roll Mortons Levee Serenaders, Elder Richard Bryant Sanctified Singers, Sam Ku West Harmony Boys, Tampa Red Hokum Jug Band, Original Memphis Five, Shortbuckle Roarke Family, Chicago Rhythm Kings, Charlie Johnson Paradise Ten, Boyd Senter Sentipedes, Dr. Humphrey Bate Possum Hunters, Johnson-Nelson-Porkchop, Tennessee Ramblers, Roane County Ramblers, Clifford Hayes' Louisville Stompers, Leake County Revelers, Bubbling Over Five, Memphis Jazzers, James Reese Europe, Paul Whiteman