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 My Gal (Walter Melrose) 5-1925 Chicago, Illinois Autograph 623 Wolverine Blues (Jelly Roll Morton) 5-1925 Chicago, Illinois Autograph 623
Marion Hardy and his Alabamians were originally formed in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1920s. Cab Calloway fronted this band in 1929 at the Savoy
Jean Goldkette booked this orchestra under the direction of Owen A. Barlett at the Book-Cadillac Hotel. The hotel is still located at the corner of
Isham Jones Rainbo Orchestra, reflected the band’s engagement at Chicago’s famous dance palace, Fred Mann’s Rainbo Gardens which was located at the intersection of North
Ford Dabney (15 March 1883 – 21 June 1958), best-known as the composer of the evergreen ‘Shine’, led an interesting career. He owned a theatre
The Jean Goldkette Orchestra featured some of the best White Jazz musicians of the 1920s. According to almost all that saw them when they played live
Billy Murray (May 25, 1877 – August 17, 1954) , known in his heyday as “The Denver Nightingale,” was one of America’s best-selling recording artists
Some of these recordings appeared under the names The New Orleans Lucky Seven, or Bix Beiderbecke‘s Lucky Seven. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company At
In 1929, after suffering a nervous breakdown Bix Beiderbecke went back to his hometown of Davenport, Iowa to recover at his parents home. He returned to New
Right after quitting the Wolverines to join Jean Goldkette, Bix and three other members of the Wolverines teamed up with Frankie Trumbauer and Miff Mole of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra to record this session. This was the first
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company For No Reason at All in C (Frankie Trumbauer / Bix Beiderbecke) 5-13-1927 New York, New York Okeh 40871 Columbia 35667
Frankie Trumbauer had one of the most original and modern jazz bands of the 1920s and early 1930s. They were never that successful financially, which led Trumbauer to
While Bix was working for the Charley Straight Orchestra in 1925, he recorded this session with friends from the Jean Goldkette Orchestra at Gennett Studio, in Richmond Indiana. This was the
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Daddy Change Your Mind (Wilson / Frank Guarente) 4-23-1929 New York, New York Okeh 41422 You Can’t Cheat A
The Travelers was a pseudonym for the The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Am I Blue? (Harry Akst / Grant Clarke) 4-3-1929
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Lover, Come Back To Me Part 1 (Hammerstein II / Romberg) 4-3-1929 New York, New York Okeh 41223 Lover,
V-DISCs were made for USA servicemen during World War II between the years of 1943 to 1949 and shipped to military units around the world
Also See: Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtime Band, and Joseph “Muggsy” Spanier (1906-1967) Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Alice Blue Gown (Tierney / McCarthy) 4-1944
The story of the Ragtimers is short, brilliant, and the wind-up is anything but happy. It starts in a hospital and ends against a dead
Rosa Henderson (November 24, 1896 – April 6, 1968) got her start in show business working in carnivals. In 1918 she married Douglas “Slim” Henderson
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Daddy Come Back 6-5-1926 New York, New York Vocalion 1025 I’ve Got Somebody Now 6-5-1926 New York, New York
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Chicago Policemen Blues 5-14-1926 New York, New York Vocalion 1021 Here Comes My Baby 5-14-1926 New York, New York
As Flora Dale on Domino Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Everything My Sweetie Does 2-1925 New York, New York Ajax 17116 Domino 3504 Regal
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company An’ I Don’t Mean If! 12-28-1928 New York, New York Vocalion 15215 You Can’t Be Like My Last Man
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company I Can’t Get The One I Want (Fred Rose / Herman Ruby / Lou Handman) 7-1924 New York, New
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Do That Thing 5-28-1924 New York, New York Vocalion 14838 Artist Instrument Elmer Chambers Cornet Charlie Dixon Banjo Ralph
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Back Woods Blues 5-1924 New York, New York Emerson 10763 Four-Flushin’ Papa 5-1924 New York, New York Emerson 10763
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Clearing House Blues (Honraty / Webb / Durvo) 4-3-1924 New York, New York Brunswick 2612-A I’m A Good Gal
Rosa Henderson is accompanied by the Virginians on this song. The Virginians in this case were a subset of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The label of Victor 19157-A didn’t let the
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Don’t Advertise Your Man (Jimmy Foster) 3-1924 New York, New York Edison 51476-R Undertaker’s Blues (“Duke” Jordan) 11-21-1924 New
Little is known about the biographical details of Bob Fuller’s life, but he was a very prolific sideman throughout the early and mid-1920s in the
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Cocoanut Strut (Bob Fuller / Myers) 8-20-1925 New York, New York Harmony 23-H Corn Bread Wiggle (Bob Fuller / Myers) 8-20-1925
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Lame Duck Blues (Clarence Williams) 6-11-1928 New York, New York Okeh 8595 Nothing But Blues (Roberts) 6-11-1928 New York,
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Black Cat Blues (Bob Fuller / Louis Hooper) 6-22-1925 New York, New York Vocalion 15051 Charleston Clarinet Blues (Bob Fuller /
Lucille Hegamin (November 29, 1894 – March 1, 1970) was the second African-American Blues singer to release a record in 1920, just few a months
Lucille Hegamin was the second person to make a Blues record after the initial success of Mamie Smith’s breakthrough recordings in 1920. Hegamin’s first record was “Jazz Me
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Alabamy Bound (Green / DeSylva / Henderson) 2-1925 New York, New York Cameo 701 Alabamy Bound (Green / DeSylva
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Can’t Get Lovin’ Blues (Roy Turk / J. Russel Robinson) 7-23-1922 New York, New York Cameo 254 I’ve Got
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Nobody But My Baby Is Gettin’ My Love (Clarence Williams / Andy Razaf) 9-28-1926 New York, New York Columbia 14164-D
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company I’ve Got To Cool My Puppies Now (Schafer / Thompson / Williams) 7-16-1922 New York, New York Paramount 20151-A
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Happy Hour Blues (1) (Lloyd Scott / Don Frye) 1-10-1927 New York, New York Victor unissued Happy Hour Blues (2) (Lloyd
Victor V-38117 was released under the name of Cecil Scott and his Orchestra. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Bright Boy Blues (Cecil Scott / Don
Reedman Cecil Scott (November 22, 1905 – January 5, 1964) and his older brother Lloyd (born 8-21-1902), who played drums, came out of the relatively
See: Boyd Senter and his Senterpedes and Boyd Senter (1898-1982) Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Eniale Blues (Jack Russell) 3-20-1928 New York, New York Okeh
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Beale Street Blues (W.C. Handy) 10-29-1929 New York, New York Okeh 40836 Copenhagen Stomp (Charlie Davis) 11-25-1929 New York,
In the autumn of 1965, I had the great pleasure of hearing by letter from the man who in the late 1920s was billed as
For recordings prior to 1939 see: Abe Lyman’s California Ambassador Hotel Orchestra. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company A Garden In Granada 4-28-1938 New York,
For recordings prior to 1939 see: Abe Lyman’s California Ambassador Hotel Orchestra. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company A Beautiful Lady In Blue Vocal chorus
Drummer Abe Lyman led this popular orchestra that played at the Ambassador Hotel which was located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The items listed are variously
Frankie Trumbauer‘s (May 30, 1901 – June 11, 1956) accomplishments as a Jazz musician have been overshadowed by the role he played in Bix Beiderbecke’s career.
Drummer Abe Lyman, born Abraham Simon in Chicago (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957), led an orchestra that was successful at the Ambassador Hotel
Clarinetist Pee Wee Russell (March 27, 1906 – February 15, 1969) is one of those unique players that comes along only once in a lifetime.
Nick La Rocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961) claimed to have invented Jazz and often complained that African-American musicians have been given too
Alcide Nuņez (March 17, 1884 – September 2, 1934) was an early White New Orleans jazz clarinetist. He played with Papa Jack Laine’s Reliance Brass Band,
Like most early Jazz musicians from New Orleans Ray Lopez got his start playing in street parades. Around 1906 he was playing in Papa Jack Laine’s Reliance
Jesse Stone and his Blue Serenaders were active from about 1920 to 1928 in Kansas City and the Southwest. Coleman Hawkins got his professional start with Stone’s
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Aint’cha Got Music? (Andy Razaf / J.C. Johnson) 7-21-1933 New York, New York Banner 32840 Dark Clouds (Boretz /
Coleman Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was the first great saxophonist of Jazz. As a child he was a gifted musician. In
Lee Morse was a popular singer of the 1920s and early 1930s. She is best remembered today for the backing bands that were assembled for her
Lee Morse (November 30, 1897 – December 16, 1954) was a very popular recording artist, songwriter and actress of the 1920s and early 1930s. She
Lee Morse was a very unique singer. The song “What Do I Care What) Somebody Said?” is a good example of her style. Her improvised vocalease
The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra began recording in 1928, but didn’t become a real band until 1934. The 1934 band featured both Glenn Miller and Bob
Tommy Dorsey (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was Jimmy’s younger brother and the more temperamental of the two. He was generally blamed for the
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Everybody Mess Aroun’ (Perry Bradford) 8-6-1926 New York, New York Harmony 231-H Velvet Tone 1231-V Georgia Grind (Spencer Williams)
The Gulf Coast Seven were a series of recording sessions organized by Perry Bradford. “Daylight Savin’ Blues” features several members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Title
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Hold ‘Er Deacon (June Clark / Willie “The Lion” Smith) 10-1923 New York, New York Pathe 36364 Perfect 14545 Keep
Willie “The Lion” Smith (November 23, 1893 – April 18, 1973) was one of the fathers of the stride piano style. During the 1920s he
Beulah “Sippie” Thomas (November 1, 1898 – November 1, 1986) grew up in Houston, Texas where she sang and played the piano in her father’s
Eddie Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was one of the gang of young white Chicago jazz musicians in the 1920s. He started
The 1928 version of this band featured the same personnel as Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven records. Their recordings are generally considered to be among Louis Armstrong’s best.
The Coon Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra was formed in 1919 and was at its peak between 1926 and 1932. The Orchestra was assembled by Carleton Coon
Isham Jones (January 31, 1894 – October 19, 1956) led one of the finest dance bands of the 1920s and wrote many hits, notably “It
The Kit-Cat was a nightclub in the Haymarket, in London’s West End. The band was sponsored by Jack Hylton and led by Al Starita, who
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company A Melody From The Sky (Featured In The Paramount film “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine”) Vocal refrain by
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Ja Da Orchestra selected by Hugues Panassie (Bob Carleton) 11-28-1938 New York, New York Bluebird B-10086-B Really The Blues
Although he was a decent clarinetist and saxophonist, Mezz Mezzrow (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972) is remembered today primarily for his autobiography “Really
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