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
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Salty Dog (Papa Charlie Jackson) 7-26-1926 Chicago, Illinois Paramount 12399-B 2653-1 Salty Dog (Papa Charlie Jackson) 7-26-1926 Chicago, Illinois
Natty Dominique (August 2, 1896 – August 30, 1982) played trumpet with many of the Hot Jazz groups from New Orleans in the 1920’s. As
Papa Celestin (January 1, 1884 – December 15, 1954) was one of the most popular of New Orleans cornetists and considered a major player in
The Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra was named for Tuxedo Dance Hall in New Orleans. The band played there from 1910 to 1913, when the club
The Dixie Serenaders was the band that Sonny Clay assembled after he returned from Australia in 1928. Notes from the recording session indicate that the band was
Related to Sonny Clay. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Down and Out Blues (Arthur Sizemore) 5-1925 Los Angeles, California Sunset 1099 Creole Blues (Charles
Sonny Clay’s Orchestra played Plantation Café in Culver City, California in the mid-1920s. The nightclub was located on Washington Boulevard, at Elenda Street, across the street
Sonny Clay was born in Texas on May 15th 1899 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1908. As a teenager he played in bands around
The California Poppies was a pseudonym for Sonny Clay’s Orchestra. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Lou (Sonny Clay / Henry Walker) 1923 Los Angeles, California Sunset
Louis Armstrong and his Stompers only made this one record and it wasn’t released until 1942. This is the band that Louis played with at the Sunset Cafe
Frank Teschemacher was born in Kansas City, Missouri on March 13, 1906 to Charles and Charlotte McCorkell Teschemacher and was the youngest of their three
Joseph Michael O’Sullivan entered this world on November 4, 1906, the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. His father, Michael, was an inventor, entrepreneur and
Jimmy McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was a member of the group of young White Chicago Jazz musicians known as the Austin
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company China Boy (Winfree / Boutelje) 10-11-1939 New York, New York Decca 18042 A Jazz Me Blues (Tom Delaney) 10-11-1939
The Austin High Gang by Charles Edward Smith From “Jazzmen,” by Frederic Ramsey, Jr. & Charles Edward Smith Harcourt, Brace & Company – New York,
Milenburg Joys features a rare vocal by Turk Savage with words added to the famous Jelly Roll Morton song by Walter Melrose. My Daddy Rocks Me is a typical blues
Bud Freeman: Profiles in Jazz Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (from “Show Boat”) (Jerome Kern / Roger Hammerstein) 12-3-1928
The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra was the most popular African-American band of the 1920s. The smooth, carefully arranged sound of Henderson’s orchestra was a huge influence on the Swing style
Arthur Briggs was an African-American bandleader who worked primarily in Europe. He first came to Europe in 1919 with Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra
Main Red Hot Jazz Entry: Arthur Briggs’ Savoy Syncopators OrchestraAlso See: Better Days Will Come Again: The Life of Arthur Briggs Title Recording Date Recording
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Crying My Blues Away (Alex Hill) 10-9-1928 Chicago, Illinois Vocalion 1218 Parkway Stomp With Skee Da Vocal (Albert Wynn
The music of the Hot Five and the Hot Seven is considered by most critics to be among the finest recordings in Jazz history. On November
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company After Twelve O’Clock (Joe Moore / Hoagy Carmichael) 9-1-1932 New York, New York Victor 24119 Bessie Couldn’t Help It (1) (Byron
Champion 15420-A was released under the pseudonym of Malcom Webb and his Gang. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Beautiful 1-9-1928 Richmond, Indiana Gennett 6367
