The Washboard Rhythm Kings were one of the most distinctive and entertaining small jazz ensembles of the early 1930s, built around the unlikely lead instrument of the washboard – a staple of jug band and street music traditions that found surprising sophistication in the hands of skilled jazz musicians.
Based primarily in Philadelphia, the Washboard Rhythm Kings recorded extensively for Victor between 1930 and 1933, cutting their sessions at Victor’s studio in Camden, New Jersey just across the Delaware River – a convenient and cost-effective choice during a period when the recording industry was fighting for survival in the depths of the Great Depression.
The Washboard Rhythm Kings appeared under several related names during their recording career – including the Washboard Rhythm Band and Washboard Rhythm Boys – reflecting the fluid personnel and label relationships typical of the era. The fact that their entire recorded output falls within the bleakest years of the Depression makes their recordings all the more remarkable – a body of work created under severe economic pressure that nonetheless crackles with invention, good humor, and genuine jazz feeling.
The Washboard Rhythm Kings recordings featured on this channel represent some of the most purely enjoyable small group jazz of the early 1930s – unpretentious, rhythmically alive, and a vivid reminder that jazz in this era was above all else music made for dancing and pleasure.