Today on the Houston Jazz Spotlight we are celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month with a show that spotlights the origins of Jazz in Houston. Here are just few hip facts about early Jazz in Houston. Jelly Roll Morton lived in Houston from 1914 to 1915. The earliest photo of a Jazz band in Texas was from Houston, the King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra, circa 1921 . During Prohibition you could go the Rice Hotel and get illegal hooch while listening to Peck Kelley and his Bad Boys which featured Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Reese and Louis Prima. Seven cats from Houston recorded with trumpet genius Louis Armstrong. The hottest territory Jazz band in Texas was from Houston, the Milt Larkin Orchestra, from 1936 to 1943.
The Houston Jazz Spotlight is a labor of love by Visual Artist, Jazz Historian, and DJ, Tierney L. Malone.