Louis Armstrong CD recommendations

[danny la rouge]

I've been eyeing up the forthcoming "Okeh, Columbia & RCA Victor Recordings - 1925-1933". Its release is ideally timed for a Christmas gift for my beloved to give me, and is a lot more reasonably priced than the Ambassador of Jazz boxed set that came out on Decca a year or so ago. (Although I do still covet that).

However, as ever, I'd be duplicating stuff I already have on CD (not to mention vinyl). But then, sound quality comes into play. Not all transfers are equal. For example, many of the tracks I have on the "King Louis" boxed set from Proper are also on the "Hot Fives and Sevens" box from JSP (I have both). The latter has the Fives and Sevens, plus later material. And the former includes earlier material. But although the Fives and Sevens sides are the same material, the sound quality on the JSP box is far superior. (Amazing, given the ages of the recordings).

So, that got me thinking about your recommendations. What CD do you regard has the best selections, the best sound, and so on for all his eras?

Here's mine, for what it's worth:

Hot Fives and Sevens on JSP. (for those legendary 20s sides).

Heart Full of Rhythm on Decca (for the 30s big band stuff that some cloth-eared fools think is inferior).

The Complete Town Hall Concert on Fresh Sound (for his 1947 small group "come back").

For the All Stars era:

Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy (the '97 Columbia/Legacy release or later, which undoes the disastrous "restoration" earlier reissues suffered, and includes studio chat etc).

Satch Plays Fats (Columbia).

And the Original Decca Recordings of the California Concerts (boxed set).

These are the mature Pops at his artistic height. Ignore those who say his sidemen sometimes let him down at this point. None of that matters.

I don't have a good recommendation for the very late "pop" sides. Hello Dolly, other 60s singles etc. I have several Best Of CDs that include them, but they all fall down in some respect (insufficient information as to personnel or recording dates - in some cases none at all! - or poor pressing quality etc, or use of inferior quality recordings from TV or radio for some tracks). Does anyone have a recommendation to share with others for this era?

 

[killer b]

I really enjoyed the album of Disney songs he did. Well worth checking out.

 

[editor]

There's a fair few of his tracks and albums on Spotify. Might be worth giving them a listen before you buy.

 

[danny la rouge]

I really enjoyed the album of Disney songs he did. Well worth checking out.

Yes, I have that on vinyl. What are the good CD reissues of this? I have some of the tracks on Best Of CDs, but again, I don't have a Best Of collection including this very late stuff that I can recommend.

 

[killer b]

Dunno Danny, I don't buy cds on the whole...

 

[danny la rouge]

Dunno Danny, I don't buy cds on the whole...

OK, I see.

For those who are uninitiated in collecting old jazz, here's the thing: a lot of recordings are now out of licence. Which means that lots of different companies are able to legally issue releases. Some are good, some are not. Sound quality can vary. As can the information you get in the booklet. (If there is one!). A CD which just has song titles is no good to me. I want to know if it's the 1928 original recording, or a big band reworking from the 30s, or a re-recording from the 50s. Is it take one, or is it take three? And which take was released as a 78? And so on. Also, if we're talking pre-50s, you didn't get LPs. So songs released as single sides can be collected together on CDs. Are you sure this collection has the complete master releases? Or are some missing? What does "complete" mean anyway? - What about songs released under another band-leader's name, for example?

The thing with Louis is, his playing (or singing) is always going to be good. But that doesn't mean the CD issue in front of you is the best purchase.

(Also, when buying a CD that isn't from the company with the original rights, are you depriving a still-living widow of a 50s saxophone legend - for example - of income? Very few jazz legends earned the money Miles Davis did, for example. As a member of the MU, that's an issue I take seriously).

I'm not a downloader; I'm a physical product man myself. I imagine downloading multiplies these problems tenfold.

 

[killer b]

I don't really download either. Strictly vinyl.

 

[editor]

Have you bothered to look on Spotify? There's literally hundreds of his recordings there, some dating back to 1936 so you could listen before you buy. That's what I do when I'm buying old records because the versions can be so different.

 

[kabbes]

Totally discredited now we've discovered he was on EPO throughout 1999 and running the peloton like his own personal Mafia kingdom.

 

[danny la rouge]

Have you bothered to look on Spotify? There's literally hundreds of his recordings there, some dating back to 1936 so you could listen before you buy. That's what I do when I'm buying old records because the versions can be so different.

Is Spotify a good way to do this? Can you tell whether it's the version of Muggles from the JSP Box or the Proper box, for example? In any case, I wouldn't want to judge an issue like sound quality over my PC speakers. Also, can you tell what information comes with the release when you listen on Spotify? Does the booklet have personnel, session dates, take number, etc. Is there even a booklet?

However, my OP is there really to offer my recommendations (which I list, under the different broad eras - early, big band, and post war small group), and to compare those with the recommendations others may care to share.

 

[editor]

Well, you can listen to every single track which must be the most important thing.

They're listed by album title so you can research those. Some have the exact recording dates next to them - e.g.



There must be way over 600 tracks available. Maybe even a thousand. It's a very long page!

 

[danny la rouge]

Well, you can listen to every single track which must be the most important thing.

They're listed by album title so you can research those. Some have the exact recording dates next to them - e.g.

OK, thanks for that.

It doesn't really address the OP, but it's interesting nonetheless.

For clarity, the paraphrase would be: here are my Louis Armstrong CD recommendations. What are yours? Let's have a discussion about their respective merits.

 

[editor]

Well, you can listen to the sound quality of a very large quantity of his album releases and compare them, no?

I'm going to give them a listen later anyway!

 

[danny la rouge]

I'm glad the thread had that outcome.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Only tangentially related, but Blue Note have a neat little app on Spotify that allows you to wander through their catalogue and lets you know who's playing what on each recording, and then you can look at their stuff too and.. well, I'm not really explaining it very well, but it's kinda handy (though maybe more to a novice like me than someone who already knows their way around jazz).

Their own blurb:

The Blue Note app enables you to explore and discover music spanning the entire history of the label from 1939 to present. Trace the label’s evolution with an interactive timeline or dive deeper into a specific style by filtering by artist, style, instrument and more.
Offering something for everyone, Blue Note helps you to uncover your new favourite artist in“Blue Note 101″ by filtering through the label’s different styles of music: Tradition, Groove and Voices. In “Blue Break Beats”, the app will take you on a tour of music that contains samples from the Blue Note catalog, placing the original versions alongside the sampled versions by artists such as Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Common, Madonna, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Usher, and Wu-Tang Clan.

 

[danny la rouge]

Only tangentially related, but Blue Note have a neat little app on Spotify that allows you to wander through their catalogue and lets you know who's playing what on each recording, and then you can look at their stuff too and.. well, I'm not really explaining it very well, but it's kinda handy (though maybe more to a novice like me than someone who already knows their way around jazz).

Their own blurb:

Cool. Blue Note is pretty much a safe bet, mind. But that sounds like a fun tool.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Yeah, like I said, it's possibly not as useful to someone who's already deep in their own appreciation, but still might prove useful and definitely helps as a map for tourists like me

 

[malatesta32]

listen to his work with king oliver! proper jazz dat!

 

[danny la rouge]

listen to his work with king oliver! proper jazz dat!

You Mouldy Fig!

It is great, though. Real old New Orleans ensemble playing.

 

[danny la rouge]

Here's a cracking swing era tune:

 

[malatesta32]

ha ha never been a mouldy old fig before. however, new orleans shout by king oliver is awesome! great banjo plonking too!

 

[danny la rouge]

In duet with Earl "Fatha" Hines:

 

[malatesta32]

way toooo modern for me danny!

 

[danny la rouge]

Here's Satchelmouth and Lil with Jimmie Rodgers:

 

[malatesta32]

my favourite jazz pic! it looks like how they sounds! amazing!

 

[malatesta32]

the tone of his horn on weather bird is pretty good i gotta admit!

 

[danny la rouge]

the tone of his horn on weather bird is pretty good i gotta admit!

It certainly is.

Here he is accompanying Bessie Smith beauteously; the scratchiness doesn't detract at all, but the harmonium is bizarre!

 

[danny la rouge]

That track is on the Proper Box, King Louis, by the way, along with a load of other pre Hot Five sessions. Which is what the collection has to recommend it.

 

[danny la rouge]

And here is with Louis Jordan, a track he famously dedicated to the Memphis police department after they'd banged him up on a spurious charge, mainly for travelling in a mixed race band in the South. They released him on condition that he play a benefit concert for them. He played this: "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You".

 

[killer b]

listening to a 1950s folkways jazz anthology tonight (which has liner notes you'd kill for danny), and this tune cropped up. lovely. louis is also all over the fletcher henderson tracks, which i've never heard before...