100 years with Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five | Oslojazz 2025
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s first recordings with his own studio band – Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five. Armstrong had just broken away from his mentor King Oliver’s band, spent some time with Fletcher Henderson’s big band, and was now ready to pursue his own ideas under his own name.
The recordings he made with the Hot Five/Hot Seven during the period 1925–1929 document how Louis Armstrong radically transformed jazz. The collective, improvised interplay that had developed in New Orleans now became a backdrop and springboard for soloists. It's incredibly exciting and refreshing to listen to this music today. They didn’t have a set formula, and we can hear Louis and the others experiment and take risks. The recordings of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five are a cornerstone of jazz history.
Norwegian Jazz Kings consists of some of Norway’s and Europe’s foremost musicians in traditional jazz and performs at clubs and festivals both at home and abroad. They listen to the original recordings and play the music today with respect and stylistic understanding through their own interpretations and improvisations – 100 years later.
Norwegian Jazz Kings play jazz inspired by the hot recordings of the 1920s, featuring heroes like Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Earl Hines, and Jabbo Smith.
Torstein Kubban – trumpet, Lars Frank – clarinet, Morten Gunnar Larsen – piano, Torbjørn Kristiansen – banjo, Christian Frank - sousaphone/double bass
Concert starts: 13.30
Doors: 12.30