Redhotjazz.com was a crown jewel of the early internet. Starting in the mid ’90s it made the offline discographies and biographies of early jazz available to the online public. It also hosted thousands of audio files donated by people who were digitizing their 78 RPM record collections, making many obscure recordings available for the first time. This all started long before Youtube and even before Wikipedia was much more than an idea.
We are duplicating the content of the Red Hot Jazz Archive from a snapshot saved in Archive.org’s Wayback Machine. Keeping with both the original intent and mission of Redhotjazz.org everything will be publicly available outside of our paywall. For ease of use we are improving each entry to meet the norms of the phone friendly modern internet.
The downloadable music files are mostly MP3s but some are in the ancient Real Audio (.ra) format. Rather than opening a new tab so you can stream or download them the Real Audio files will immediately download when you click them. Don’t be frightened. You don’t need Real Audio player to play them but they won’t work on Windows Media Player. We recommend the free and open source VLC player.
For more information read: About the Archive
Bertha “Chippie” Hill (March 15, 1905 – May 7, 1950) was a dancer and vaudeville singer. At the age of thirteen she and her family
This Richard M. Jones group also recorded under the name of Chicago Hottentots. After 1925 the recordings were released under the name of Richard M. Jones’ Jazz Wizards with an
This Richard M. Jones group also recorded under the name of Richard M. Jones’ Three Jazz Wizards. The term Hottentot refers to the name of a group of
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company African Hunch (Richard M. Jones) 11-7-1927 Chicago, Illinois Victor 21345-B Baby O’ Mine (Richard M. Jones) 6-22-1926 Chicago, Illinois
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company If You Don’t Give Me What I Want (I’m Gonna Get It Somewhere Else) (Annabelle Anderson) 1-1924 New York
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Cemetery Blues (Sidney Lanet / Spencer Williams) 12-1923 New York City, New York Paramount 12089-A Hard Luck Blues (Edna
Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders accompanied dozens of Blues singers in the 1920s. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Down On The Levee Blues (Clarence
This band from the 1920s has no relation to the 1938 sessions of the same name, that featured players from the Count Basie Orchestra and
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Happy Rhythm (Clarence Williams) 1-30-1929 New York, New York Columbia 14406-D Honeycomb Harmony (Clarence Williams) 1-30-1929 New York, New
Virginia Liston (c. 1890 – June 1932) would most likely be barely remembered today if she had not sung on a Clarence Williams Blue Five record
Very little is known about the life of Margaret Johnson. She was very active on the vaudeville circuit in the early 1920s and is known
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Folks In New York City Ain’t Like Folks Down South (Margaret Johnson / Andy Razaf / Phil Worde) 7-9-1926 New
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Absent Minded Blues (Tom Delaney) 9-5-1924 New York City, New York Okeh 8162-B I Love You Daddy, But You
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Changeable Daddy Of Mine (Sam Wooding / Bob Schafer) 11-25-1924 New York City, New York Okeh 8185-A Done Made
George McClennon was a dancer and novelty clarinetist who was very active in African-American theatre and vaudeville from 1910 up until his death in 1937.
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Clarinet Laughing Blues (George McClennon) 4-1923 New York, New York Okeh 8072 71511-A Clarinet Laughing Blues (George McClennon) 4-1923
Clarence Williams (October 6, 1898 or October 8, 1893 – November 6, 1965) was both an artist and an entrepreneur. Highly energetic and adept at
Clarence Williams’ Blue Five were a series of recording sessions that featured some of the best Jazz musicians and Blues singers of the early 1920s. Louis Armstrong, Sidney
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Baby Won’t You Please Come Home (Clarence Williams / Charles Warfield) 9-23-1927 New York, New York Okeh 8510 Close Fit
The March of 1929 session is a Clarence Williams’ session. The other sessions feature different unknown bands. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Am I Blue?
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Chizzlin’ Sam (Clarence Williams) 8-7-1933 New York, New York Columbia 2829-D High Society (Clarence Williams / A.J. Piron) 8-7-1933 New York,
Thanks to Bob Palmer for his help with this page. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Anywhere Sweetie Goes (I’ll Be There) (Clarence Williams / Fats Waller)
Thanks to Bob Palmer for his help with this page. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Candy Lips (I’m Stuck On You) (Mike Jackson /
Eddie Lang and King Oliver are both in top form, while Clarence Williams adds some very effective celeste parts and nice melancholy singing to “What Ya Want Me To Do?“.
