Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recorded in various line-ups from 1925 to 1928, were however only studio groups—not working units. (They gave only one public performance: at a prototypical jazz festival in 1926, organized by Richard M. Jones, pianist, bandleader, composer, and A&R man for Okeh Records, which sponsored the event that featured a short appearance by all their artists.) \n\nThe South West Oldtime All Stars have embraced these classics, such as West End Blues, Muskrat Ramble, Cornet Chop Suey, Ory's Creole Trombone, Struttin' With Some Barbecue, King Of The Zulus and Mahogany Hall Stomp, and breathed new life into them. They have maintained the highest musical standard and created a genuine treat for lovers of good music—not only New Orleans jazz fans. \n\nArmstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings were the first to offer soloists more space for improvisation and laid the creative path for later jazz styles. \nThese recordings set the fundamental principles of all jazz music. The artistic potential that is evident in them helped jazz to become recognised as an essential music form. The jazz critic Gary Giddins considers them "the most influential recording project in jazz, perhaps in American music".