The Music Makers of Gennett Records

It was a matter of geography. During one of the most vital periods in American music, from the late 1910s to around 1930, Gennett Records ran the only permanent recording studio between New York and San Francisco. Let that sink in. Artists wishing to record had to travel great distances, or perhaps find their way to a mobile unit set up by one of the major companies. It just so happened that Richmond Indian, for just a little while, was at the center of it all. Located a day trip from Chicago during that city's critical moment in jazz history, the Gennett Studio captured the first recordings of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, and many others. Located not much further from Appalachia, Gennett was also in a position to find and nurture artists in the burgeoning hillbilly market. When the opportunity arose the company was willing to test new sounds,  even the convergence of secular blues into gospel. This 90 minute documentary, produced by a public television station at Indiana University, presents the Gennett story in a broad style to fit a national viewing audience. Broken into five segments, it is the jazz history that goes into the most depth. Louis Armstrong and Bix are given capsule biographies that will frustrate established fans in their predictable focus on seedy beginnings or endings. But as introduct