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In 1925 New York became the biggest, most populous city in the world, overtaking London, and was the launchpad for an extraordinary range of writing, music, culture and politics which still resonate 100 years later - from the publication of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and the launch of The New Yorker, to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance and the first success for the composer Richard Rodgers.

This is the story of that momentous year, season by season, told over four episodes, with contributors including novelist Jay McInerney, the writer and academic Margo Jefferson and the editor of the New Yorker David Remnick. The series is presented by the saxophonist and broadcaster Soweto Kinch, with an original sound track played by the composer and jazz clarinettist Giacomo Smith and his band.

Episode 3: Summer

The music coming out of Harlem, and across New York, was causing some consternation and the newspapers reported on the ‘immorality’ of the saxophone in 1925. Modernism in music and architecture was changing the look and sound of the city.
In September the novel Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska was published which gave voice to the people from the tenements in the Lower East Side. And on Broadway the international sensation, No No Nanette, opened, with hits including Tea for Two.

The man who wanted to become the first ‘speakeasy’ mayor, Jimmy Walker, was out on the campaign trail in the summer months, ready for the final vote in November.

Presenter Soweto Kinch
Producer Katy Hickman
Band: Giacomo Smith, leader and clarinet; Laura Judd, trumpet; Daniel Higham, trombone; Alexander Boulton, banjo; Joe Webb, piano; Corrie Dick, drums; Soweto Kinch, saxophone.