LOUIS ARMSTRONG PLAYS W.C. HANDY   -   Louis Armstrong

YEAR:  1954

LABEL:  Columbia
TRACK LISTING:  St. Louis Blues,  Yellow Dog Blues,  Loveless Love,  Aunt Hagar's Blues,  Long Gone (From Bowling Green),  The Memphis Blues (or Mister Crump),  Beale Street Blues,  Ole Miss Blues,  Chantez Las Bas (Sing 'Em Low),  Hesitating Blues,  Atlanta Blues (Make Me One Pallet On the Floor)
BONUS TRACKS:  George Avakian's Interview with W.C. Handy,  Loveless Love (Rehearsal Sequence),  Hesitating Blues (Rehearsal Sequence),  Alligator Story,  Long Gone (From Bowling Green)(Rehearsal Sequence)
IMPRESSIONS:  "What's a really good jazz album I can get, Maz?"  This was a frequent question I'd ask Maz when we'd chat while working at Borders.  She was in charge of the jazz cds and I was in charge of the classical cds.  One of the greatest jazz albums of all time was her answer.  This one.  "The father of the blues interpreted by the master of jazz trumpet and jazz singing..."  How could you go wrong?  A perfect album.  In the liner notes it tells of W.C. Handy listening to the playback with tears streaming down his sightless eyes stating:  "I never thought I'd hear my blues like this!  Truly wonderful!"  Called by Allmusic "Louis Armstrong's finest record of the 1950s" and "...essential music for all serious jazz collections".   
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All of 'em.
GUEST ARTISTS:  Velma Middleton (vocals)
FACT SHEET:  It's impossible to really number Louis Armstrong's albums since he predates LPs completely.  The album features Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars consisting of Louis Armstrong (trumpet, vocals), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Barrett Deems (drums),  Billy Kyle (piano), Arvell Shaw (bass), Trummy Young (trombone) and Velma Middleon (vocals).  The album was first issued on cd in 1986 to vast controversy as alternate versions of tracks were used meaning that it wasn't the same album as originally released; this happened all-too-frequently with Louis' cd reissues sadly.  Thankfully the 1997 cd re-issue (the one here) restored the album to the original version and also included the bonus tracks listed above including a short interview with Handy, Armstrong telling his "alligator joke" and some rehearsal takes. 

BING & SATCHMO - Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong

YEAR: 1960
LABEL: MGM/EMI

TRACK LISTING: Muskrat Ramble, Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine), The Preacher, Dardanella, Let's Sing Like A Dixieland Band, Way Down Yonder In New Orleans, Brother Bill, Little Ol' Tune, At the Jazz Band Ball, Rocky Mountain Moon, Bye Bye Blues

BONUS TRACKS: Lazy River

IMPRESSIONS: Here we have good friends getting together to record an album for the fun of it. Relaxed and easy, Bing and Louis settle into these old, old songs like a comfortable easy chair as each takes turns singing a verse then usually finishing up dueting together. The stereo orchestra by Billy May is lush (perhaps a little TOO lush) and the peppy chorus can be distracting and out-of-place as both occasionally attempt to drown out these two old pros; however, even these slight misteps cannot derail the camaraderie on display here between these two monumental performers. What makes rather ordinary songs extraordinary is the patented witty patter shooting back and forth between Bing and Louis which often makes each singer laugh at what sounds like ad-libs. Worn in as a pair of soft shoes, this album provides nothing challenging but is simply a celebration of a musical friendship.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine), Dardanella, Let's Sing Like A Dixieland Band, Way Down Yonder In New Orleans, Brother Bill, At the Jazz Band Ball, Rocky Mountain Moon, Bye Bye Blues, Lazy River

FACT SHEET: BING & SATCHMO is the only album Crosby & Armstrong recorded together. The orchestra is arranged and conducted by Billy May.

THE COMPLETE HOT FIVE & HOT SEVEN RECORDINGS - Louis Armstrong

YEAR: 1925 - 1928

LABEL: Okeh/reissued on Columbia

TRACK LISTING: My Heart, Yes! I'm In the Barrel, Gut Bucket Blues, Come Back Sweet Papa, Georgia Grind, Heebie Jeebies, Cornet Chop Suey, Oriental Strut, You're Next, Muskrat Ramble, Don't Forget To Mess Around, I'm Gonna Gitcha, Droppin' Shucks, Who'sit, King of the Zulus, Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa, Lonesome Blues, Sweet Little Papa, Jazz Lips, Skid-Dat-De-Dat, Big Butter and Egg Man, Sunset Cafe Stomp, You Made Me Love You, Irish Black Bottom, Willie the Weeper, Wild Man Blues, Chicago Breakdown, Alligator Crawl, Potato Head Blues, Melancholy, Weary Blues, Twelfth Street Rag, Keyhole Blues, S.O.L. Blues, Gully Low Blues, That's When I'll Come Back To You, Put 'Em Down Blues, Ory's Creole Trombone, The Last Time, Struttin' With Some Barbecue, Got No Blues, Once In A While, I'm Not Rough, Hotter Than That, Savoy Blues, Fireworks, Skip the Gutter, A Monday Date, Don't Jive Me, West End Blues, Sugar Foot Strut, Two Deuces, Squeeze Me, Knee Drops, No (Papa No), Basin Street Blues, No One Else But You, Beau Koo Jack, Save It Pretty Mama, Weather Bird, Muggles, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya, St. James Infirmary, Tight Like This

IMPRESSIONS: Not an exaggeration to call these recordings "the Rosetta Stone of Jazz. There are probably no more important recordings in the music's history. Louis Armstrong has always been a particular favourite of mine as the mere sound of one of his recordings lifts me up with a sense of musical elation very rare in the vast catalogue of music. Only a few artists have that ability and Pops is one of the biggest. No matter how many times I hear "West End Blues" I remain astonished and thrilled by the inevitable goosebumps. Every vocalist (with the exception of opera singers) who came after him owes Louis Armstrong for the way they sing; no matter what genre or style of music from jazz vocalists to rock singers, from country crooners to heavy metal monsters -- everyone sings the way they do because of Pops. And that's not to mention the monumental influence he's had on the music. That silly tendency 10 years ago to proclaim the "artist of the decade" focused on Elvis or Sinatra when it is Louis Armstrong alone who can claim that title.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: West End Blues, West End Blues and. . .oh yeah. . .West End Blues. Oh yeah and then there's always Heebie Jeebies, Cornet Chop Suey, Oriental Strut, King of the Zulus, Wild Man Blues, Alligator Crawl, Potato Head Blues, Melancholy, S.O.L. Blues, Struttin' With Some Barbecue, I'm Not Rough, Hotter Than That, Fireworks, West End Blues, Weather Bird, Muggles, St. James Infirmary, Tight Like This

GUEST ARTISTS: Lonnie Johnson plays guitar on "I'm Not Rough", "Hotter Than That" and "Savoy Blues"

FACT SHEET: The Hot Five was the first band led by Louis Armstrong in the recording studio. The recordings he made with the Hot Five and subsequent Hot Seven literally changed the face of Jazz by transforming it into a soloist's art, by introducing individual solo improvisation to records, by inventing scat singing (on "Heebie Jeebies") and by leaving behind the New Orleans tradition of Jazz in favour of a new "swing" tempo. All this and much more originated with these records. Louis and his band recorded multiple sessions at the Okeh Recording Studios beginning in 1925 through 1928. The members of the original Hot Five were Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), "Mrs. Armstrong" Lil Hardin (piano) and Johnny St. Cyr (banjo). In 1927, Louis replaced some members with musicians from the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra (with whom Louis had recently been playing): Pete Briggs (tuba), Baby Dodds (drums), John Thomas (trombone), Lil Hardin (piano) and Johnny Dodds (clarinet). A revamped 1928 Hot Five would change the entire membership culled from the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra (with whom Louis had been recently performing): Earl Hines (piano), Fred Robinson (trombone), Jimmy Strong (clarinet & tenor saxophone), Mancy Cara (banjo) and Zutty Singleton (drums). In May 1927 Louis Armstrong also instituted his Hot Seven lineup which featured Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Lil Hardin (piano), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), Baby Dodds (drums), Pete Briggs (tuba) and John Thomas (trombone).