Birth of the Hot - the Classic Chicago "Red Hot Peppers" Sessions 1926-27

When in 1995 RCA reissued 19 titles and four alternate takes from the first nine months of Jelly Roll Morton's adventure as a Victor recording artist, the producers elected to christen the album "Birth of the Hot". This title, which is a takeoff on that of Miles Davis' 1949 Birth of the Cool album (later echoed in modified phraseology by the Gil Evans Impulse LPs Out of the Cool and Into the Hot) accurately pegs these exciting 1926-1927 recordings as archetypal manifestations of the classic New Orleans "hot" jazz style that Morton pioneered first as a pianist, then with a series of groups that paved the way for the successes of his supremely adept and well-rehearsed Red Hot Peppers band. This excellent sampler ought to whet the appetite for a larger selection of Morton's works as reissued by numerous labels including Classics, Proper, JSP, and of course RCA Victor. If all you need is a straight shot of Jelly, this is the genuine article.