The Original Memphis Five were one of the busiest and most recorded small jazz ensembles of the 1920s, cutting hundreds of sides for virtually every major label of the era under a bewildering variety of pseudonyms. Despite their name, the Original Memphis Five were a New York group — the name was chosen for its regional exotic appeal at a time when Southern jazz carried an air of authentic hot music credibility.
The core of the Original Memphis Five centered on cornetist Phil Napoleon and trombonist Miff Mole, two of the most technically accomplished white jazz musicians of the decade. Their recordings capture a polished, precise approach to hot jazz that contrasted with the rougher edges of New Orleans style playing — the Original Memphis Five brought a crisp, almost chamber music sensibility to jazz that was enormously influential among white dance band musicians of the period.
The prolific output of the Original Memphis Five makes them invaluable documents of 1920s popular jazz taste. Recording as the Synco Jazz Band, Bailey’s Lucky Seven, the Cotton Pickers, and dozens of other names, the group behind the Original Memphis Five name appeared on OKeh, Victor, Columbia, Paramount, and nearly every other label of the era. The Original Memphis Five recordings featured on this channel showcase this remarkable ensemble at its most characteristic — hot, precise, and utterly at home in the recording studio.