Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy

by Kennedy, Rick

"Some of the earliest performances by the likes of Jelly Roll Morton, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Bix Beiderbecke were preserved on recordings produced at Gennett Studios, an independent company in the small city of Richmond, Indiana. In a primitive studio next to the railroad tracks, many of America's earliest jazz, blues, and country musicians were captured on wax discs. It was here that Hoagy Carmichael's timeless "Stardust" debuted as a dance stomp.". "In 1915, the Gennett family, the enterprising owners of Starr Piano Company, created a small record division to supplement their income. In the early 1920s Gennett's victory in a landmark patent case involving the mighty Victor Records changed the competitive nature of the young record industry.". "The Gennetts made music history by recording young jazz pioneers in the Midwest and folk musicians from the Appalachian hills at a time when major record labels in the East couldn't be bothered. Gennett