Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five – “Knee Drops” (1928)

Louis Armstrong’s legendary Hot Five records another scorcher: “Knee Drops”, composed by Armstrong’s wife, Lil Hardin. This song, along with 88 other Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2002.

This tune features a unique instrument: Zutty Singleton had been playing around with hand cymbals (which he also used for a session for Carroll Dickerson’s Savoyagers, recorded the same day) and these found their way into this recording.

0:00 Intro – ensemble playing with hot breaks
0:47 Jimmy Strong solo (tenor sax)
1:22 Fred Robinson solo (trombone)
1:41 Earl Hines solo (piano)
1:57 Louis Armstrong solo (trumpet)
2:35 ensemble playing with hot breaks

Recorded in Chicago on July 5, 1928.
Released as Okeh 8631.

Credits:
Louis Armstrong – trumpet, director
Fred Robinson – trombone
Jimmy Strong – clarinet, tenor sax
Earl Hines – piano
Mancy Cara banjo
Zutty Singleton – drums, hand-cymbals