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 1-25 of 47 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh 9484 10-in. 11/12/1925 My heart Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9485 10-in. 11/12/1925 Yes! I'm in the barrel Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9486 10-in. 11/12/1925 Gut bucket blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9501 Not documented 2/22/1926 [Unknown title(s)] Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9502 Not documented 2/22/1926 [Unknown title(s)] Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9503 10-in. 2/22/1926 Come back, sweet papa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9533 10-in. 2/26/1926 Georgia grind Lil Hardin Armstrong ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female-male vocal duet Musical group  
OKeh 9534 10-in. 2/26/1926 Heebie jeebies Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9535 10-in. 2/26/1926 Cornet chop suey Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9536 10-in. 2/26/1926 Oriental strut Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9537 10-in. 2/26/1926 You're next Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9538 10-in. 2/26/1926 Muskrat ramble Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9729 10-in. 6/16/1926 Don't forget to mess around Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9730 10-in. 6/16/1926 I'm gonna gitcha Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9731 10-in. 6/16/1926 Dropping shucks Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9732 10-in. 6/16/1926 Who'sit Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9750 10-in. 6/18/1926 He likes it slow Louis Armstrong ; Butterbeans & Susie ; Hot Five Female-male vocal duet, with jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9776 10-in. 6/23/1926 The king of the Zulus (At a chit'lin' rag) Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with dialogue Musical group  
OKeh 9777 10-in. 6/23/1926 Big fat Ma and skinny Pa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo and talk Musical group  
OKeh 9778 10-in. 6/23/1926 Lonesome blues Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9779 10-in. 6/23/1926 Sweet little papa Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9890 10-in. 11/16/1926 Jazz lips Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble Musical group  
OKeh 9891 10-in. 11/16/1926 Skid-dat-de-dat Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with male vocal solo Musical group  
OKeh 9892 10-in. 11/16/1926 Big butter and egg man from the West May Alix ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female-male vocal duet Musical group  
OKeh 9893 10-in. 11/16/1926 Sunset Cafe stomp May Alix ; Louis Armstrong ; Hot Five Jazz/dance ensemble, with female vocal solo Musical group  
(Results 1-25 of 47 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hot Five," accessed March 29, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105972.

Hot Five. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105972.

"Hot Five." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 29 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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