Louis Armstrong (1928-1931)

Read About This Recording

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. Louis Armstrong became one of the most pivotal figures in the history of jazz music.

Armstrong's CD in the Vintage Jazz Series spans the years from 1928-1931 and marks a very short snapshot of his considerable musical career. He got his start as a cornet player, then as a trumpeter, before forming and leading several great bands. Towards the end of his career, he was known as a vocalist, one of jazz's most influential.

Louis does a little bit of everything on this CD, including leading his Hot Five group, an ensemble that had endured drastic changes in membership in 1927. Some of their best tracks are featured here, including A Monday Date and West End Blues. Songs like Black and Blue, St. Louis Blues and I'm Confessin' helped establish him as the world's first great jazz entertainer.

This is, as advertised, an original jazz recording from one of jazz's greatest legends. The tracks have been digitally remastered, but they were not subjected to artificial filtering or enhancing, so the sound quality is not pristine. It is, nevertheless, a very enjoyable CD that yields some of the best music that Armstrong had to offer.

-Elaine Sutcliffe

Contents

Imported from Europe!

Remastered!

A Monday Date; West End Blues; Basin Street Blues; Beau Koo Jack; Save it, Pretty Mama; St. James Infirmary; Tight Like This; Mahogany Hall Stomp; (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue; St. Louis Blues; Rockin' Chair; Dear Old Southland; My Sweet; I'm a Ding Dong Daddy (From Dumas); I'm Confessin' (That I Love You); You're Drivin' Me Crazy; When it's Sleepy Time Down South; I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You; Lazy River.

Louis Armstrong, Trumpet/Vocals; Homer Hobson, Otis Johnson, Henry Allen, Ed Anderson, Leon Elkins, George Orendorff, Harold Scott, Zilmer Randolph, Trumpets; Fred Robinson, J.C. Higginbotham, Henry Hicks, Lawrence Brown, Luther Graven, Preston Jackson, Trombones; Albert Nicholas, Teddy Hill, Bert Curry, Crawford Wethington, Bobby Holmes, Theodore McCord, Castor McCord, Leon Herriford, Willie Stark, William Franz, Les Hite, Marvin Johnson, Charlie Jones, Lester Boone, George James, Albert Washington, Jimmy Strong, Don Redman, Reeds; Earl Hines, Piano/Celeste/Vocals; Luis Russell, Gene Anderson, Joe Turner, L.Z. Cooper, Harvey Brooks, Henry Prince, Charlie Alexander, Pianos; Mancy Cara, Banjo/Vocals; Dave Wilborn, Bill Perkins, Mike McKendrick, Banjos/Guitars; Eddie Condon, Ceele Burke, Banjos; Lonnie Johnson, Will Johnson, Bernard Addison, Guitars; Pops Foster, Joe Bailey, John Lindsay, Basses; Pete Briggs, Lavert Hutchinson, Reggie Jones, Brass Basses; Zutty Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Willie Lynch, Lionel Hampton, Tubby Hall, Drums; Hoagy Carmichael, Vocals; Louis Armstrong Hot Five; Louis Armstrong Savoy Ballroom Five; Louis Armstrong Orchestra; Louis Armstrong Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.