Red Hot Peppers was a recording jazz band led by Jelly Roll Morton from 1926-1930. It was a seven- or eight-piece band formed in Chicago that recorded for Victor and featured the best New Orleans-style freelance musicians available, including cornetist George Mitchell, trombonist Kid Ory, clarinetists Omer Simeon and Johnny Dodds, banjoists Johnny St. Cyr and Bud Scott, double bass player John Lindsay, and drummers Andrew Hilaire and Baby Dodds.
Recordings made by the group in Chicago in 1926-27, such as "Black Bottom Stomp", "Smoke-House Blues", and "Doctor Jazz" set a standard for small group jazz that is still unrivaled. Morton's skills as a composer and arranger are apparent in the structure of the pieces, which combines clarity with variety and manages to maintain a balance between ensemble and solo playing while allowing for a substantial solo from every band member. The quality of the recordings is further enhanced by the band's careful rehearsals, which were uncommon in early jazz performances. A number of Morton's best piano solos can also be heard on these recordings.
In 1928, Morton moved to New York, where he continued to make recordings under the name Red Hot Peppers, but collaborated with musicians from his regular band or from other orchestras. By 1930, the name Red Hot Peppers was no longer used.
Recordings made by the Red Hot Peppers constituted a significant contribution to the race records industry, at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. The masterful blend of composition and improvisation demonstrated by Morton and his colleagues set a precedent for early jazz.
Read more about Red Hot Peppers: Recording History
Famous quotes containing the words red hot, red, hot and/or peppers:
“Hm, the beacon of the press. In the hell to which all journalists must descend when they die, Mr. Wiggam, we shall sit at red hot desks with quills of fire in our hand and spend eternity on eternity writing about the salubrious weather of that region. Let us serve our apprenticeship here thoroughly and intelligently.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)
“With the old kindness, the old distinguished grace,
She lies, her lovely piteous head amid dull red hair
Propped upon pillows, rouge on the pallor of her face.
She would not have us sad because she is lying there,
And when she meets our gaze her eyes are laughter-lit,
Her speech a wicked tale that we may vie with her....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“And deep into her crystal body poured
The hot and sorrowful sweetness of the dust:
Whereof she wanders mad, being all unfit
For mortal love, that might not die of it.”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper;
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where’s the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (l. 1–4)