The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings album cover
The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings

Louis Armstrong

1925 - 1930
Columbia

After serving a valuable apprenticeship under the great King Oliver and another under the very different tutelage of Fletcher Henderson, the 24-year-old Louis Armstrong emerged fully fledged as a bandleader and made jazz history. Initially forming a quintet with his wife Lil Hardin (piano), Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), and Johnny St. Cyr (guitar/banjo), Armstrong and his colleagues proceeded to redefine the sound of jazz, bringing his particular affinity for collective improvisation and his joyful, free-swinging performance style to the fore. While some have argued that his scat singing on the Hot Five recording “Heebie Jeebies” represents the first recording of that technique, this is not strictly true – but the influence of his scat chorus on that song is undeniable. No less is his approach to arrangement, which beautifully and consistently balances virtuosity and exuberant musicality. Within a couple of years Armstrong had added drummer Baby Dodds and tuba player Pete Briggs, creating the Hot Seven, and with them continued to develop his ideas, leading to such paradigm-shifting recordings as “Potato Head Blues” and “Wild Man Blues.” The impact of these recordings has never stopped reverberating throughout the jazz world.

 

Rick Anderson

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