Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven was a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 studio group organized to make a series of recordings for Okeh Records

Okeh Records

Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...

 in Chicago, Illinois in May 1927. Some of the personnel also recorded with Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five

Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five

The Hot Five was Louis Armstrong's first jazz recording band led under his own name.It was a typical New Orleans jazz band in instrumentation, consisting of trumpet, clarinet, and trombone backed by a rhythm section...

, including Johnny Dodds

Johnny Dodds

Johnny Dodds was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby"...

 (clarinet), Lil Armstrong (piano), Johnny St. Cyr

Johnny St. Cyr

Johnny St. Cyr was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist.St. Cyr was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is most commonly remembered as a member of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven bands....

 (banjo and guitar). These musicians were augmented by Johnny Dodds's brother, Baby Dodds

Baby Dodds

Warren "Baby" Dodds was a jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana."Baby" Dodds was the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds. He is regarded as one of the very best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers...

 (drums), Pete Briggs (tuba), and John Thomas (trombone, replacing Armstrong's usual trombonist Kid Ory

Kid Ory

Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...

, then touring with King Oliver). Briggs and Thomas were at the time working with Armstrong's performing group, the Sunset Stompers.

In five sessions between May 7 and May 14, 1927, the group recorded at least 12 sides, including "Willie the Weeper

Willie the Weeper

Willie the Weeperis a song about drug addiction, written by Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon in 1927. It is the basis for Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher The Dave Van Ronk version may be the inspiration for the Velvet Underground's Heroin....

," "Wild Man Blues

Wild Man Blues

Wild Man Blues is a 1998 documentary film directed by Barbara Kopple, about the musical avocation of actor/director/comic Woody Allen. The film takes its name from a jazz composition sometimes attributed to Jelly Roll Morton and sometimes to Louis Armstrong and recorded by both...

," "Twelfth Street Rag

Twelfth Street Rag

"Twelfth Street Rag" was composed by Euday L. Bowman in 1914. It is one of the most famous and best-selling rags of the ragtime era. It has been recorded by many artists, ranging from Louis Armstrong to Lester Young. Bowman worked as a pianist in some of the bordellos of Kansas City...

," and "Potato Head Blues

Potato Head Blues

"Potato Head Blues" is a Louis Armstrong composition regarded as one of his finest recordings. It was made by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois on May 10, 1927...

" (celebrated for Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

's stop-time solo).

Their song "Melancholy Blues" is included on the Voyager Golden Record

Voyager Golden Record

The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...

, attached to the Voyager spacecraft.