Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions


The Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions were recorded between 1925 and 1928 by Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five and Hot Seven groups. According to the National Recording Registry, "Louis Armstrong was jazz's first great soloist and is among American music's most important and influential figures. These sessions, his solos in particular, set a standard musicians still strive to equal in their beauty and innovation." These recordings were added to the National Recording Registry in 2002, the first year of the institution's existence.
Ron Wynn and Bruce Boyd Raeburn, writing for the All Music Guide to Jazz, note that "these recordings radically altered jazz's focus; instead of collective playing, Armstrong's spectacular instrumental improvisations redefined the music." Armstrong helped popularize scat singing in "Heebie Jeebies," and his solo on "Potato Head Blues" helped establish the stop-time technique in jazz.

Recordings

1925–1926 Hot Five recordings

  1. "My Heart"
  2. "Yes! I'm in the Barrel"
  3. "Gut Bucket Blues"
  4. "Come Back Sweet Papa"
  5. "Georgia Grind"
  6. "Heebie Jeebies"
  7. "Cornet Chop Suey"
  8. "Oriental Strut"
  9. "You're Next"
  10. "Muskrat Ramble"
  11. "Don't Forget to Mess Around"
  12. "I'm Gonna Gitcha"
  13. "Droppin' Shucks"
  14. "Who' Sit"
  15. "He Likes It Slow"
  16. "The King of the Zulus"
  17. "Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa"
  18. "Lonesome Blues"
  19. "Sweet Little Papa"
  20. "Jazz Lips"
  21. "Skid-Dat-De-Dat"
  22. "Big Butter and Egg Man"
  23. "Sunset Cafe Stomp"
  24. "You Made Me Love You"
  25. "Irish Black Bottom"

    1927 Hot Seven recordings

  26. "Willie the Weeper"
  27. "Wild Man Blues"
  28. "Chicago Breakdown"
  29. "Alligator Crawl"
  30. "Potato Head Blues"
  31. "Melancholy Blues"
  32. "Weary Blues"
  33. "Twelfth Street Rag"
  34. "Keyhole Blues"
  35. "S.O.L. Blues"
  36. "Gully Low Blues"
  37. "That's When I'll Come Back to You"

    1927 Hot Five recordings

  38. "Put 'Em Down Blues"
  39. "Ory's Creole Trombone"
  40. "The Last Time"
  41. "Struttin' With Some Barbecue"
  42. "Got No Blues"
  43. "Once in a While"
  44. "I'm Not Rough"
  45. "Hotter Than That"
  46. "Savoy Blues"

    1928 Hot Five recordings

  47. "Fireworks"
  48. "Skip the Gutter"
  49. "A Monday Date"
  50. "Don't Jive Me"
  51. "West End Blues"
  52. "Sugar Foot Strut"
  53. "Two Deuces"
  54. "Squeeze Me"
  55. "Knee Drops"

    Recording dates

Personnel

1925–1926 Hot Five recordings

Tracks 1–6

Tracks 32–33

Tracks 44–50

  • Louis Armstrong
  • Kid Ory
  • Johnny Dodds
  • Lil Hardin Armstrong
  • Johnny St. Cyr

    Tracks 51–52

  • Louis Armstrong
  • Kid Ory
  • Johnny Dodds
  • Lil Hardin Armstrong
  • Johnny St. Cyr
  • Lonnie Johnson

    1928 Hot Five recordings

Tracks 53–56