Jazz Club U.S.A. Episodes

Jazz Club U.S.A. was a weekly radio show that aired between 1950 and 1952. Hosted by jazz critic and producer Leonard Feather, it was featured on the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America network. In the early 1950s, VOA programming was beamed into countries under Communist rule so that residents there who picked up the VOA surreptitiously could equate the thrilling aspects of American music with the positive qualities of freedom and capitalism. The U.S. government hoped the music would help thwart the spread of Communism and that residents of such countries would overthrow Communist regimes. In 1954, Feather went out on a Jazz Club U.S.A. tour to Sweden. [Photo above of Leonard Feather]

Les Johnston in Australia passed along links to the shows as they aired back in the early 1950s:

Here's the first episode...



Here's Woody Herman in 1952...



Here's Stan Kenton in 1952...



Here's a show on the jazz keyboard in 1952...



And here's my favorite—a show of poll winners that includes recordings by Charlie Parker with strings, Count Basie, Serge Chaloff, Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton with Maynard Ferguson, and more...