StLJN jazz site of the week: The Red Hot Jazz Archive

The first three sites touted here so far as "jazz sites of the week" have all fallen into the general category of blogs, but obviously there also are many useful jazz reference sites, histories, educational resources and more out there on the Net. And so, beginning with this, our fourth installment of this feature, I'll occasionally attempt to point out some of those as well, starting with this week's StLJN jazz site of the week, the Red Hot Jazz Archive.

The Red Hot Jazz Archive provides a very handy and thorough overview of early jazz before 1930, with biographies and photos of key musicians, both famous and relatively obscure, plus an extensive collection of audio clips and recordings that let you actually hear them play. Although the clips are presented in Real Audio format, which has drawbacks in terms of both fidelity and usability, it's great to be able to access such a wealth of material for free, and this feature really helps make the site stand out.

If you're at all interested in the early years of jazz, or any of the specific musicians from that era, the Red Hot Jazz Archive is an excellent starting point to learn more and well worth a visit and/or bookmark.