Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five · The Hot Five was the first jazz band that Louis Armstrong led under his own name for recordings. In its line-up it was a typical New Orleans band: trumpet, clarinet and trombone, supported by a rhythm section. In that style the three horns together played the leading role, with collective improvisation: the trumpet had the melody and the clarinet and trombone played improvised parts around it. The group was set up at the suggestion of Richard M. Jones for Okeh Records, and all the records were made in Okeh's studio in Chicago.

Music and breakthrough

There were in fact two groups with that name. The first recorded from 1925 to 1927 and consisted of Armstrong's wife, the pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, and of New Orleans musicians with whom he had played in the 1910s: Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet and Johnny St. Cyr on guitar and banjo. In 1928 Armstrong replaced everyone except himself with members of Carroll Dickerson's orchestra, including Earl Hines on piano and Zutty Singleton on drums. Famous recordings are Cornet Chop Suey, Muskrat Ramble, Hotter Than That and Struttin' with Some Barbecue.

Influence

The group's ensemble playing is often strong, but it is above all the playing of Armstrong's cornet or trumpet that defines almost every recording. Those records made the soloist the star of jazz, rather than the group. In doing so they pointed the way to the jazz of later decades.

Listening

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