Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five
Encyclopedia
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
, where 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 where the trumpet played alone began to appear more frequently. In these brilliant solos, Armstrong laid down the basic vocabulary
of jazz improvising, and became its founding and most influential exponent.
The Hot Five was a recording group organized at the suggestion of Richard M. Jones
for Okeh Records
. All their records were made in Okeh's Chicago, Illinois recording studio
. The exact same personnel recorded a session made under the pseudonym "Lil's Hotshots" for Vocalion
/Brunswick
. While the musicians in the Hot 5 played together in other contexts, as the Hot 5 they were a recording studio band that performed live only for two parties organized by Okeh Records
.
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.
on piano
, all New Orleans
musicians who Armstrong had worked with in that city in the 1910s: Kid Ory
on trombone
, Johnny Dodds
on clarinet
, and Johnny St. Cyr
on guitar
and banjo
.
For some or all of the Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven
sides, Ory was in New York City
working with King Oliver's band, and was replaced, probably by John Thomas.
On one session in December 1927, Lonnie Johnson
was added on guitar.
The recordings of this group are considered by many to be uneven, with some of the blunders (eg the mis-timed hokum
at the end of Heebie Jeebies
) becoming notorious in jazz circles, and the solos of Dodds, Ory and Hardin sounding distinctly pedestrian in comparison with Armstrong's.
, Earl Hines
, piano, Mancy Carr (not "Cara" as has often been misprinted) on banjo, and Zutty Singleton on drums
.
This second Hot Five found Armstrong playing with musicians more nearly his equal , Hines in particular, and these sessions resulted in some of the masterpieces of early jazz, of which West End Blues
is arguably the best known.
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
's first jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
recording band led under his own name.
It was a typical New Orleans jazz band in instrumentation, consisting of trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, and trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
backed by a rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
section. The original New Orleans jazz style leaned heavily on collective improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, where the three horns together played the lead: the trumpet played the main melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, and the clarinet and trombone played improvised accompaniments to the melody. This tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
was continued in the Hot Five, but because of Armstrong's creative gifts as a trumpet player, solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
passages where the trumpet played alone began to appear more frequently. In these brilliant solos, Armstrong laid down the basic vocabulary
Vocabulary
A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...
of jazz improvising, and became its founding and most influential exponent.
The Hot Five was a recording group organized at the suggestion of Richard M. Jones
Richard M. Jones
Richard M. Jones, born Richard Marigny Jones, was a jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and record producer. Numerous songs bear his name as author, including "Trouble in Mind"....
for Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. All their records were made in Okeh's Chicago, Illinois recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. The exact same personnel recorded a session made under the pseudonym "Lil's Hotshots" for Vocalion
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
/Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
. While the musicians in the Hot 5 played together in other contexts, as the Hot 5 they were a recording studio band that performed live only for two parties organized by Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
.
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.
The first Hot Five
The original Hot Five were, other than Armstrong's wife Lil Hardin ArmstrongLil Hardin Armstrong
Lil Hardin Armstrong was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader, and the second wife of Louis Armstrong with whom she collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s....
on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, all New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
musicians who Armstrong had worked with in that city in the 1910s: Kid Ory
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...
on trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby"...
on clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, and Johnny St. Cyr
Johnny St. Cyr
Johnny St. Cyr was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist.St. Cyr was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is most commonly remembered as a member of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven bands....
on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
.
For some or all of the Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven was a jazz studio group organized to make a series of recordings for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois in May 1927. Some of the personnel also recorded with Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, including Johnny Dodds , Lil Armstrong , Johnny St. Cyr...
sides, Ory was in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
working with King Oliver's band, and was replaced, probably by John Thomas.
On one session in December 1927, Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
was added on guitar.
The recordings of this group are considered by many to be uneven, with some of the blunders (eg the mis-timed hokum
Hokum
Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music - a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos...
at the end of Heebie Jeebies
Heebie Jeebies
Heebie-jeebies or heebie jeebies may refer to:*Heebie-jeebies , used to describe a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, depression or illness.*"Heebie Jeebies" , a 1926 single by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five...
) becoming notorious in jazz circles, and the solos of Dodds, Ory and Hardin sounding distinctly pedestrian in comparison with Armstrong's.
The 1928 Hot Five
In 1928 Armstrong revamped the recording band, replacing everyone but himself with his band-members in the Carrol Dickerson Orchestra which Armstrong was playing with Fred Robinson, trombone, Jimmy Strong, clarinet and tenor saxophoneTenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, Earl Hines
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, piano, Mancy Carr (not "Cara" as has often been misprinted) on banjo, and Zutty Singleton on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
.
This second Hot Five found Armstrong playing with musicians more nearly his equal , Hines in particular, and these sessions resulted in some of the masterpieces of early jazz, of which West End Blues
West End Blues
"West End Blues" is a multi-strain 12 bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams....
is arguably the best known.