Hot Five

The Hot Five was Louis Armstrong's first jazz recording band led under his own name.

It was a typical New Orleans jazz band in instrumentation, consisting of trumpet, clarinet, and trombone backed by a rhythm section. The original New Orleans jazz style leaned heavily on collective improvisation, in which the three horns together played the lead: the trumpet played the main melody, and the clarinet and trombone played improvised accompaniments to the melody. This tradition was continued in the Hot Five, but because of Armstrong's creative gifts as a trumpet player, solo passages by the trumpet alone began to appear more frequently. In these solos, Armstrong laid down the basic vocabulary of jazz improvisation and became its founding and most influential exponent.

The Hot Five was organized at the suggestion of Richard M. Jones for Okeh Records. All their records were made in Okeh's recording studio in Chicago, Illinois. The same personnel recorded a session made under the pseudonym "Lil's Hot Shots" for Vocalion/Brunswick (their first electrically recorded session). While the musicians in the Hot Five played together in other contexts, as the Hot Five they were a recording studio band that performed live only for two parties organized by Okeh.

There were two different groups called "Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five", the first recording from 1925 through 1927 and the second in 1928; Armstrong was the only musician in both groups. After 1925, the Hot Five maintained a recording schedule of about three sessions per year.

Birth and Death Data: Born Founded 1925, Died Ceased 1928

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1925 - 1929

Roles Represented in DAHR: Musical group

Notes: Listing for Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five.

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-47 of 47 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh 9980 10-in. 11/27/1926 You made me love you Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9981 10-in. 11/27/1926 Irish black bottom Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9982 10-in. 11/27/1926 Leave mine alone Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh W80863 10-in. 5/11/1927 Weary blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh W82037 10-in. 12/9/1927 Struttin' with some barbecue Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh W82038 10-in. 12/9/1927 Got no blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet Musical group  
OKeh W82039 10-in. 12/10/1927 Once in awhile Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet Musical group  
OKeh W82040 10-in. 12/10/1927 I'm not rough Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance quintet, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh W82055 10-in. 12/13/1927 Hotter than that Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh W82056 10-in. 12/13/1927 Savoy blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W400960 10-in. 6/27/1928 Fireworks Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W400961 10-in. 6/27/1928 Skip the gutter Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W400962 10-in. 6/27/1928 A Monday date Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo and talk Musical group  
OKeh W400966 10-in. 6/28/1928 Don't jive me Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W400967 10-in. 6/28/1928 West End blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh W400968 10-in. 6/28/1928 Sugar foot strut Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh W400973 10-in. 6/29/1928 Two deuces Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W400974 10-in. 6/29/1928 Squeeze me Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet, with male vocal solo and male vocal trio Musical group  
OKeh W400991 10-in. 7/5/1928 Knee drops Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance sextet Musical group  
OKeh W402534 10-in. 7/19/1929 Ain't misbehavin' Louis Armstrong Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo Musical group  
Brunswick C339-C340 10-in. 5/28/1926 Georgia bo-bo Lil's Hot Shots Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo Musical group  
Brunswick C341-C342 10-in. 5/28/1926 Drop that sack Lil's Hot Shots Jazz/dance band Musical group  
(Results 26-47 of 47 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hot Five," accessed April 24, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105972.

Hot Five. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105972.

"Hot Five." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105972

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