Kid Ory relocated to California from New Orleans in 1919. Ory formed his Original Creole Jazz Band (they sometimes were billed as Kid Ory’s Brown-Skinned Babies) the same year and played residencies in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland up until 1925.

Spike’s Seven Pods of Pepper Orchestra was the name that Kid Ory’s Original Creole Jazz Band recorded under in 1922 for the Sunshine label, which only released three records, all which featured Ory’s band. The records were also released under the name of the Sunshine Band. The label was run by two brothers, John and Reb Spikes. The records sold in their music store at 12th and Central Avenue in Los Angeles.

Although only 5000 of these records were printed, the two tracks were the first jazz recordings made by an African-American band from New Orleans and they are a fine example of the New Orleans ensemble style of playing. It is interesting to compare this 1922 version of “Ory’s Creole Trombone” with the version of “Ory’s Creole Trombone” that he recorded five years later with Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five.

The band had also recorded two Blues records a month earlier on the Sunshine label. The first under the name of Ruth Lee accompanied by Ory’s Sunshine Orchestra and the other being Roberta Dudley accompanied by Ory’s Sunshine Orchestra.