The Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions

Recording history and tape provenance

The sessions began in Chicago in November 1925, with the last of them recorded in New York. In May 1927 the group added Pete Briggs on tuba and Baby Dodds on drums. As the Hot Seven they recorded across eight days that month.

The 89 sides include "Potato Head Blues," "Wild Man Blues," "Hotter Than That," "Cornet Chop Suey" and "West End Blues." They document the shift from collective New Orleans ensemble playing towards jazz built on individual improvisation.

"Melancholy Blues," from the Hot Seven sessions, was included on the Voyager Golden Record launched in 1977.

Columbia's Louis Armstrong Story series

Columbia issued this material on 12" LP in the 1950s as The Louis Armstrong Story, with reissues into the 1960s on the six-eye label. The series is organised by session rather than as a single anthology. Volume II consists of the May 1927 Hot Seven sessions cut for OKeh.

Because the series splits the recordings across volumes, covering the full Hot Five and Hot Seven output this way means buying several LPs. No published sound comparison between the volumes and later compilations has been found.

European vinyl compilations

A German MCA Records Club Edition, catalogue H 283/4, compiles selections from these sessions. A German Electrola pressing, Armstrong Hot Five and Seven, Vol. 1, does the same.

Neither claims the completeness of the modern CD sets. Both offer partial coverage in one package, which suits a buyer who wants a single vinyl item rather than a shelf of volumes.

Individual sides also circulated on UK Parlophone 78rpm singles under licence from OKeh. "Alligator Blues" appeared on Parlophone R 2185. For collectors chasing original-era artefacts, European 78s are an alternative to US originals.

The complete sets, and why they are not here

Columbia/Legacy's The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (2000) transferred from the original masters. It widened the scope to related sessions, including Lil Armstrong's "Lil's Hot Shots" and dates with Johnny Dodds. It runs to four CDs in a hardback book. AllMusic calls it indispensable.

JSP Records issued a competing four-disc set the same year, Hot Fives & Sevens, remastered by John R. T. Davies and later reissued on Definitive. The Penguin Guide gave it a crown. Critics disagree on which set sounds better, with Ben Ratliff preferring the Columbia and Penguin's editors preferring the JSP transfers.

Neither has been issued on vinyl. A buyer who wants both the format and the fullest version of this material cannot have both.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$: A German MCA Club Edition or Electrola compilation, for partial coverage in one package.

$$$: Individual volumes of Columbia's Louis Armstrong Story series, bought one at a time to build up the sessions.

$$$$$: Original OKeh, Columbia or Parlophone 78rpm singles, for original-era artefacts rather than compilations.

Pressing tier summary

References

• Wikipedia, "Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong_Hot_Five_and_Hot_Seven_Sessions
• Wikipedia, "Hot Fives & Sevens": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Fives_%26_Sevens
• Library of Congress, National Recording Preservation Board essay, "Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings": https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/HotFiveHotSevenRecordings.pdf
• AllMusic, "Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings": https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-hot-five-and-hot-seven-recordings-columbia-legacy--mw0000254142

Related guides: Genius of Modern Music Volume 1 · Bird and Diz · Jazz at Massey Hall