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
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
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
Erskine Tate (January 14, 1895-December 17, 1978, the original RHJ Archive had the dates wrong) was a violinist and leader of a band that played
Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra is one of the early examples of what would come to be called Big Band music. The band was retained by the
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven were the companion sessions of the Hot Five sides. The personnel is the same as the first Hot Five records except that
Harry Reser (January 17, 1896 – September 27, 1965) was perhaps the greatest banjoist of the 1920s if not the greatest banjoist of all time.
Thanks to Geoffery J. Orr and Uncle Dave Lewis for their help with the recordings on this page. Also See: Lopez and Hamilton’s Kings of
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Arkansas Blues (Spencer Williams) 12-7-1921 New York, New York Regal 9164 Emerson 10496 Aunt Hagar’s Children Blues (W.C. Handy)
Vernon and Irene Castle were dancers who made a name for themselves in Europe performing Ragtime dances like the Texas Tommy, the Turkey Trot and
Wilbur Sweatman‘s (February 7, 1882 – March 9, 1961) musical career reads like the history of African-Americans in popular music. He got his professional start
Pianist and bandleader, Bennie Moten (November 13, 1894 – April 2, 1935) helped to establish what is called the Kansas City Jazz style. In 1922
Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra was the most successful Jazz band of the Midwest. The band toured all over the country and had a top
The Blue Devils were an early Kansas City Jazz band, several members of this band would go on to and play in Bennie Moten’s Kansas City
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Black Maria with vocal refrain by George Bias (Fred Rose) 7-3-1930 New York, New Yorks Victor V-38146-B Chinnin’ And
Thanks to Owen Miller for his help with this page Title Recording Date Recording Location Company All Muggled Up Vocal refrain by Frank Myers (Jack
Thanks to Owen Miller for his help with this page. Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Black And Blue Bottom (Eddie Lang / Joe Venuti) 9-29-1926 New
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company A Blues Serenade (Frank Signorelli / Jimmy Lytell / Vincent Grande) 9-1926 New York, New York Pathe Actuelle 36523 Perfect
Pianist Frank Signorelli (May 24, 1901 – December 9, 1975) started the band the Original Memphis Five with Phil Napoleon in 1917. It was one of the most
Title Recording Date Recording Location Company Bugle Call Rag (Jack Pettis / Billy Meyers / Elmer Schoebel) 5-22-1929 New York, New York Okeh 41410 Freeze
