Red Hot Musicians

George Lewis (July 13, 1900 – December 31, 1968) was one of the Jazz musicians who didn’t leave New Orleans in the 1920s. He stayed

Jelly Roll Morton had a hit with his 1923 version of Wolverine Blues. This stirred interest with the the Victor company who were just starting to get

Johnny Dodds (April 12, 1892 – August 8, 1940) was one of the greatest clarinetist of the 1920’s. Although both Jimmie Noone and Sidney Bechet had better technique,

Baby Dodds (December 24, 1898 – February 14, 1959) was one of first great drummers of Jazz and the brother of Johnny Dodds. Baby got

In 1910 Honore Dutrey (c. 1894 in New Orleans, Louisiana – July 21, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois) started playing trombone in various bands in New Orleans, including Jimmie Noone’s outfit.

Bud Scott (January 11, 1890 – July 2, 1949) was a multi-instrumentalist who could play the banjo, six-string guitar and violin, and at one point

Fess Williams led bands in both Chicago and New York in the 1920s and early 1930s. He seemed to model himself after Ted Lewis wearing a top

Keyboard player and arranger Tiny Parham (February 25, 1900 – April 4, 1943) was born in Canada, but grew up in Kansas City. He got

Johnny St. Cyr (April 17, 1890 – June 17, 1966) played banjo and guitar, and was a true jazz pioneer. St. Cyr had his own

Beatrice C. “Bee” Palmer (11 September 1894 – 22 December 1967) was born in Chicago, the third of four children born to Charles and Anna

This band, whose entire output is included here, is surely one of the most remarkable in the history of Jazz and dance music, for it

Until recently, next to nothing was known about Thelma Terry (September 30, 1901 – May 30, 1966): she played string bass in Chicago in the

Edith Wilson (September 2, 1896 – March 31, 1981) was one of the stars of early African-American musical theatre. After working in vaudeville with her

One of the first important bassists of Jazz, Foster was playing in bands around New Orleans as early as 1906. He played tuba with Fate Marable’s group

Yes, Virginia, there was a Jabbo Smith! Jabbo had a short but exceedingly important recording career in the late 1920’s when he became the first

George Mitchell, (March 8, 1899– May 22, 1972) the gifted hard-driving cornet player on Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers recording sessions, deserves wider recognition and

Pianist Frank Melrose (November 26, 1907 – September 1, 1941) was the younger brother of music publishers and agents Walter and Lester Melrose, who ran

Richard Myknee Jones (13 June 1892 – 8 December 1945) was from a musical family in New Orleans and played a variety of instruments before

Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon (March 3, 1896 or 1897 – May 15, 1953) was a vaudeville singer, comedian and female impersonator. His nickname of “Half

Jimmie Noone is considered one of the best clarinetists of the Twenties. His style differs from the other two great New Orleans clarinet players, Johnny

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in April 1906, Alex Hill (April 22, 1906 – February 1937), the eldest son of an African Episcopalian minister and

Omer Simeon (July 21, 1902 – September 17, 1959) and his family moved from New Orleans to Chicago in 1914 and like so many other great

Earl Hines has been called the first modern jazz pianist. His style differed from other pianists of the Twenties in his use of what were

Zutty Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was one of the most influential drummers of early Jazz. He popularized the use of brushes

Unlike most early Jazz musicians who called themselves Doc or Professor, Charles L. Cooke (September 3, 1891 – December 25, 1958), really had a doctorate

Charlie Creath was, like Fate Marable and Peck Kelly, was a regional band leader. Never traveling to the major jazz centers like Chicago or New York

Before Louis Armstrong left Chicago to join Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra in 1924, Johnny Dunn (February 19, 1897 – August 20, 1937) was considered the king of New York’s Jazz

Cornetist Thomas Morris  (August 30, 1897 – 1945) is a somewhat shadowy, yet prolific figure of the early New York Jazz scene. He led a

Albert Nicholas  (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) played with Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez while still a teenager in New Orleans and

Title Recording Date Recording Location Company My Sweet Man (Tickles The Ivories For Me) (Benett) 9-1924 New York, New York Ajax 17068 What You Need

Mamie Smith was the first to record blues songs in 1920 with her versions of Perry Bradford’s “Crazy Blues“, and “It’ s Right Here for You” on

Anthony Parenti (8-6-1900 to 4-17-72) was born into a musical family and learned as a youngster to play various reed instruments. By the time he

Violinist Armand Piron (8-16-1888 to 2-17-1943)  is remembered most today as the early business partner of Clarence Williams. They owned The Piron-Williams Publishing Company in

Buddie Petit was, at the height of his powers, considered one of the greatest of the New Orleans cornet players. Although he never recorded, many

When Henry “Kid” Rena‘s (pronounced ruh-NAY, 8-30-1898 to 4-25-1949) name comes up, albeit infrequently, in the annals of New Orleans jazz, he’s usually identified as

Manuel Perez’s (December 28th 1871 – 1946) place in the history of Jazz would probably have been greater if he would have talked to historians,

Creole clarinetist Alphonse Picou (10-18-1880 to 2-4-1961) was one of the earliest Jazz musicians from New Orleans and is generally credited with developing the clarinet

Freddie Keppard (2-27-1890 to 12-21-1933) was an important musician who succeeded Buddy Bolden as “king” of the cornet players in New Orleans. He started playing around 1906,

Bill Johnson (8/10/1872-12/3/1971) and one of the first band leaders to take the New Orleans style of Jazz outside of the city. In 1909 he

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

Sonny Clay was born in Texas in 1899 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1908. As a teenager he played in bands around Phoenix before

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 was a member of the group of young White Chicago Jazz musicians known as the Austin High Gang. This group consisted of Jimmy and

Al Gandee played with the Woverines when it was stationed for a three-month stint at Doyle’s Dance Studio in Cincinnati. He also participated on the

Hoagy Carmichael is remembered today as one of America’s great composers of popular songs. Several of his tunes, like “Star Dust“, “Georgia on My Mind”

Trumpeter Mutt Carey got his start like so many others with the marching bands in New Orleans sometime around 1913. His brother Jack was the leader of

Kid Ory was the greatest trombone player in the early years of Jazz. He originally played banjo, but then switched to trombone. Perhaps his banjo

In 1917 this band cut nine titles for Edison, all issued on Blue Amberol as well as Diamond Disc. It was among the first to

Henry Busse was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1916 where he found work playing trumpet in a movie theatre pit

Multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Buddy Burton appeared on a quite a few 1920s Chicago South Side Jazz and Blues records as vocalist and playing drums, washboard,

Paul Mares was from New Orleans and a childhood friend of Leon Roppolo and Abbie and George Brunies. While still a teenager Mares played in Tom Brown‘s band and with

Leon Roppolo was considered a genius by his contemporaries and like Bix Beiderbecke and Buddy Bolden he was another of the tragic young men of early Jazz. He is

Little is known about the life of Alberta Brown, but she made this excellent Blues record in 1928. She is backed up by members of

“Papa” Jack Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) is often credited with being the first White Jazz musician. He was a drummer and

Trombone player George Brunies got his start at age eight playing with Papa Jack Laine‘s band and later went on to play with Laine’s son Alfred

This band was organized by drummer Johnny Stein after Stein’s Dixie Jass Band broke up and became the Original Dixieland Jass Band. It is interesting to note that

In 1915, New Orleans band leader Johnny Stein formed this band to take North to Chicago for a gig at the Booster Club at the

Like most early White New Orleans Jazz musicians, trombonist Tom Brown was a veteran of Papa Jack Laine’s Reliance Brass Band. Around 1910 he organized his own

Bessie Brown, like so many other female classic Blues singers of the 1920s. had a background in vaudeville and musical theatre. Throughout the 1920s she

Perry Bradford was a singer, songwriter, pianist and vaudeville and minstrel performer who forever changed the sound of American popular music by convincing Okeh Records

Born into a large, poverty stricken family, Benny Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) began playing the clarinet at an early age. He

Ben Pollack was one of the more successful White band leaders of the late 1920s. His orchestras featured many future Jazz stars such as Glenn

Trombonist Jack Carey was the older brother of Thomas “Pappa Mutt” Carey, the leader of the Crescent City Orchestra, and the author of perhaps the most

Frankie Dusen Jr. became the trombonist in Buddy Bolden‘s band in 1906 and took over the group after Bolden went insane in 1907. He re-named the group the Eagle Band after

Hardcore might be the best way to describe the Blues singing of Lucille Bogan. While many of the Classic Blues singers of the 1920s tackled

Irving Mills was born in New York City, in the Jewish ghetto on the East Side in 1894 to Jewish parents. His mother and father

Gertrude Pridgett was born into a showbiz family that performed in minstrel shows. She first appeared onstage in 1900, singing and dancing in minstrel and

Multi-instrumentalist Peter Bocage (31 July 1887 – 3 December 1967) was one of the great trumpeters in New Orleans history and ironically did not consider

In 1915 Jimmy Blythe moved from his native Kentucky to Chicago. He was an accomplished musician and composer and found a great deal of work

Banjoist and guitarist Jack Bland is best remembered as the banjoist for the Mound City Blue Blowers which he co-founded with Red McKenzie in St. Louis. By 1924 the

Blues singer Esther Bigeou was a cousin of drummer Paul Barbarin which made her part of one of the most musical families in New Orleans in

Bubber Miley was the master of the plunger mute. His growling, drunken wah-wah sounding trumpet playing was largely responsible for Duke Ellington ‘s early success and