1917 – 1934
Gennett
A studio beside a railway line, where recorded jazz begins
Starr Piano Company · Richmond, Indiana
The house
Gennett was the record division of the Starr Piano Company, and its studio sat in a gorge in Richmond, Indiana, close enough to the Chesapeake and Ohio tracks that sessions stopped when a train went past. It recorded whoever turned up and could pay, which turned out to be the best possible policy.
In 1923 alone Gennett recorded King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band with the young Louis Armstrong on second cornet, Jelly Roll Morton's first piano solos, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Hoagy Carmichael and Bix Beiderbecke recorded there too.
Gennett also broke Victor's grip on the industry in court: it fought the lateral-cut patent claims and won, which opened disc manufacturing to every independent that followed.
What it sounds like
Acoustic Gennetts are rough and unevenly balanced, with the brass often swamping everything else. The historical value is total and the fidelity is incidental.
On the shelf
Pulling sleeves…