Louis Bacon
Appearances
Draw up a list of some of the top jazz artists of all time, and the legend featured in this recording would likely be at the top of that list. Duke [more]
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"Armstrong jovially balanced his calling as a musician with his job as an entertainer, applying his virtuosity while showing audiences a good time." —New York Times
In conjunction with the release of Ken Burns' ten-part, 19-hour epic PBS documentary {#Jazz}, Columbia issued 22 single-disc compilations devoted to jazz's most significant [more]
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Louis Armstrong recorded constantly throughout his storied career, from his sidemen dates with King Oliver's [more]
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This is the first domestic volume on CD of Armstrong's swing-era recordings for Decca in chronological order (1934-1936). Joined by the musical, but by then somewhat [more]
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Two of the selections ("Jeepers Creepers" and "Tiger Rag") on this CD are taken from a radio broadcast that matched Louis Armstrong in 1938 with the great pianist [more]
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This is a clever collection of 25 tracks that either feature the word Harlem in the title (19 of them) or reference it in the lyrics. The CD includes five tracks by Duke Ellington, [more]
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Along with units led by Fletcher Henderson and Luis Russell, Chick Webb's big band of the early '30s cut some of the smartest and most galvanizing swing of the era. Webb, of course, is [more]
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This 23-track compilation contains alternate takes of many of Armstrong's signature songs from this period on one album. The songs include
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![Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Universal]](/cache/JHS/f1/130x130_on-sale_f169588sif2.png)
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Biography
- Born Nov 1st 1904 in Louisville, KY
- Died Dec 8th 1967 in New York, NY
A trumpeter and vocalist, Louis Bacon can be added to the short list of /jazz performers that need to be invited to a banquet, putting him in the company of Floyd R. Bean, Phil Napolean, Benny Waters and Chuck Steak, among others. Listeners most often recognize Bacon as a name amongst the horn section on recordings by the Duke Ellington orchestra and Louis Armstrong in big band mode, material that has been reissued in enough different formats to make the discography of Bacon as fat as a large pork shoulder roast. He was raised by a widow in Chicago, and began playing professionally at the age of 22 with the combo of Zinky Cohn. In 1928, Bacon slid onto the New York City plate, backing up a pair of dancers known by the stagename of Brown and McGraw.
In 1928, following a short stint with the excessive Bingie Madison, the trumpeter joined the band of Lt. J. Tim Brymnn before cutting loose in 1930 with Chick Webb. Following four years racing after this great /swing drummer, Bacon spent a year frying in the Ellington sizzle. Next up was
Luis Russell, who became even more interesting to work with in 1938 following the creation of a combined band with Armstrong. Subsequent recordings by this outfit are generally where /jazz fans find themselves hearing Bacon for the first time. A bout of tuberculosis took Bacon off the fire just when this new group was really taking off, but it turned out not be as disastrous to his career as this disease could be. By 1939, the trumpeter was back onstage at the Savoy Ballroom, working with the Benny Carter Big Band.
At the end of that year he left for Europe by boat in order to join up with Willie Lewis, an American bandleader who had fled the United States. This turned out to be a ticket to extensive touring for the next two years. Bacon hung with Lewis in Portugal and traipsed back home after him in 1941 when Lewis decided to repatriate. In 1942 Bacon worked with trumpet giant Cootie Williams, a former colleage from the Ellington band. Bacon was subsequently ill again, then back in action with reed player Garvin Bushell in the summer of 1944. Later in that decade Bacon performed in U.S.O. tours of Asia as a member of the Jessie Stone Orchestra, the music strongly reminiscent of the Armstrong and Russell arrangements. By the '50s his medical problems pretty much forced him to abandon trumpet playing, but he was onstage from time to time at New York City clubs such as Ryan's, focused more and more on his vocal work and had considerable success as a vocal coach. In the '60s, Ryan worked more often as an ambulance driver then a musician, the sirens probably reminding him of Cootie Williams. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
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