Birth Of The Hot - The Classic Chicago "Red Hot Peppers" Sessions 1926-27

This CD won't give you Mr. Morton's piano solos, which of course are great. These are jazz combo tracks originally issued on 78's in the late 1920's. The songs, many of them, are Morton compositions, and the performances are high quality and full of spirit. And there are a lot of them. Listening to this for an hour straight, they can seem a bit much. But if you want a sampler of what New Orleans-style jazz groups sounded like, get this one. Although it was recorded in Chicago, it's as authentic as you'll ever find. Almost everything on here is up-tempo fund.

Morton was very influential as a composer and pianist, and was a great singer. He was irascible, cantankerous, and had trouble keeping a band together and dealing with the public. He was hard to get along with and it was hard for him to get along with himself! Unlike most musicians and composers of the day, Morton was determined to get paid his royalties and this alone helped to make him a pariah among the record companies, hard to get gigs or make recordings. Yet his efforts later helped to bring better conditions for composers and recording artists. On this CD, he managed to gather a very compatible group of New Orleans players. I love every cut and the re-mastered sound is far better than the older copy I have. If you like traditional jazz, if you want a window into jazz history, if you enjoy great playing, get this one! And then listen to Mr Jelly's stories, playing and singing on the Library of Congress recordings and read the recent biography of him. One of the all time greats, one of the all time characters.

What a great compilation from early New Orleans Jazz master Jelly Roll Morton. This is where you can hear the sound of a new concept rising.There is not a bad cut on this recording!

Some of my favorite JRM tracks come alive with the fine transfers and remastering on this Bluebird CD.However, there are a few clicks and pops on some tracks which could have been removed, and some of the "swishing" sounds (probably due to record groove compression) are still plainly audible in places. These can be eliminated/reduced manually (with time and patience) using current sound restoration technology, and I've done this myself for the first CD track "Black Bottom Stomp" which can be heard as an MP3 file at [...] Hence, I rate the CD as 4 stars because of these slight problems.For those interested in Fats Waller in fine sound quality, please see my own CD at [...]

I love early Jazz and this is a very nice compilation fro Jelly Roll Morton. Well engineered considering when these songs were recorded (on 78). A nice album to start with if you want to explore early Jazz.

Outstanding music by Morton and his band from the 1920's. To the non-specialist, his recording of Dr. Jazz IS jazz. 4 out of 5 because naturally, after all these years, the sound isn't 100%.

I like this kind of music and it was perfect just what I wanted

I knew that I would like this collection... I didn't know that I would love it. Jelly Roll must have been something to witness back in the day. He was a true original and his bands really cook on this collection. It is indeed "Hot" music.

'Clean-ups' of acoustic recordings don't often come out as well as this - If you like JRM you'll be impressed by this.Track-by-track notes are all the nerdy (ie me) might reasonably hope for.

It is fortunate that through CD's such as this, those of us who wish to understand, can access the beginnings. Bright, and adventurous. I forgive the recording quality for the privilege to experience the spontaneity, courage, experimentation, and genius, which inspired influenced all that was to follow.

as advertised

Bought it on a whim when I was buying other (Bix Beiderdecke) cds. Not disappointed.