On BBC Radio 4 extra at 09.30 Monday to Friday this week.

His Master's Voices

"Cerys Matthews and Tris Penna examine the legacy and stories behind some of the first gramophone records recorded in Britain from 1898-1902"

All five episodes are available to listen to now.

Episode 3 is British Ethnic

"His Master's Voices

Episode 3 of 5

Singer Cerys Matthews and music expert Tristram Penna continue their investigation into the early days of the recording industry in the UK.

They are in Cecil Sharp House, the home of English Folk Dance and Song Society, and are joined by Steve Roud, creator of the Roud Folk Song Index.

In the first few years of the Gramophone Company's history, they were making records of many popular songs rooted in the folk tradition including many old work songs, and producer Fred Gaisberg first travelled the British Isles in 1899 to find and record them.

He began in Scotland with pipers and singers, then going to Wales to record choirs including the Rhondda Royal Glee Society, and lastly to Dublin to record the very best of the local talents.

These discs captured local folk songs and melodies but, with an ear for what might sell, Gaisberg nearly always added a piano accompaniment and gentrified them for the Gramophone's targeted genteel audience.

The portable recording equipment they needed consisted of at least six crate loads and involved an interesting mixture of zinc plate, wax and toxic chemicals as well as an electrically driven recording machine.

We end with a recording of English Music Hall artist Gus Elen and an English hit song which points to the future of the popular recording industry in the UK - pop songs leading us all the way from Gus to The Beatles.

We also hear from academic Peter Adamson and Christopher Proudfoot, CLPGS President. The early recordings are courtesy of the EMI Archive Trust.

A Sue Clark Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2015."

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Also on BBC Radio 4 Extra today was

Things Called Jazz That Are Not Jazz

"There's a Jazz apple, Jazz aftershave, Jazz car, Jazz spreadsheet software, even a range of non-alcoholic beer called Jazz.

Why are so many things called Jazz that are not Jazz?

Russell Finch - documentary maker and failed jazz musician - has an unusual hobby. He collects examples of Things Called Jazz That Are Not Jazz.

There are more than you’d think.

The UK intellectual property office lists over 290 trademarks for things called jazz - everything from jazz garlic to jazz wigs to a jazz wettable powder biofungicide. Russell has been documenting some of his stranger discoveries on a blog. He insists it almost went viral once.

But it’s made him curious why are so many completely unrelated objects named after this one music genre? Even more mysterious, why are they named after a type of music that - it pains him to admit - not many people actually like?

Along the way he finds out the surprising origins of the word, the reason some musicians find it offensive, and why jazz is not a good name for food.

With:

* Comedian, Stewart Lee
* Singer, Gwyneth Herbert
* Musician, Nicholas Payton.

Producers: Peggy Sutton and Russell Finch

A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2016."