SPECIAL TWO WEEKS OF REVIEW FOR THANKSGIVING WEEK!

***RINGER OF THE WEEK***
Louis Armstrong
The Armstrong Box
Storyville Records
www.storyvillerecords.com
By George W. Harris

To quote Satchmo himself, “Now You Has Jazz.” This 7 cd, one dvd
collection can be summarized by that one phrase that is sung by the man
that essentially invented the genre, style attitude, sound and whatever
else you want to associate with America’s music. This boxed set starts
at Armstrong’s post-WWII renaissance, when he’d stopped fronting a big
band in 1947, and started his All Stars with the semi-rotating cast of
Trummy Young-Jack Teagarden/tb, Bobby Hackett/tp, Peanuts Hucko-Barney
Bigard/cl, Earl Hines-Dick Cary/p, Arvell Shaw-Milt Hinton-Billy
Kyle/b and George Wettling-Barrett Deems-Sid Catlett/dr, along with
underrated vocalist Velma Middleton. It concludes with a 1967 concert
when Armstrong was more of a national figure than a jazz star, but
there’s nothing wrong with that, as well.

Concerts and broadcasts from 47-55 feature this wonderful, relaxed and fun loving band through the first three ½ discs, and Armstrong sounds rejuvenated on both horn and voice as he brings songs like “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” “Back O Town Blues” and “Rockin’ Chair” back into the fold of standards. The second disc is a treat, as it’s a
complete 71 minute complete concert, chock full of gems, both vocally
and musically, as the band stomps through “C Jam Blues” and Satchmo
mugs up with Middleton as well as Tracy and Hepburn. Middleton was the perfect teammate for this band, and her delivery on fun loving tunes like “Big Butter and Egg Man” are the visceral joys of jazz. Armstrong’s duet with Cary on “Dear Old Southland” is a joy to behold, while Hines himself on “Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues” is a cavalcade of ivory.

A 1962 film soundtrack from the Goodyear Jazz Concert, as well as a
pretty complete broadcast from Nice, and a great concert from Chicago
with the team of Young, Joe Darensbourg/cl, Kyle, Bill Cronk/b, Danny
Barcelona/dr and Jewel Brown/voc. Brown is pretty impressive on “Did
You Hear About Jerry,” while the whole band cooks with an iron skillet
on “Now You Has Jazz” and “Yellow Dog Blues,” the latter with some
great stick work by Darensbourg. The Nice concert is exceptional in
that, while the sound is not absolutely perfect, the pace and breadth
of the music is able to show a perfect blend of jazz chops and
entertainment. How many musicians today can do that?!?

The last cd finds Armstrong at a Copenhagen concert in 1967, and while
he’s not at the peak of form anymore, he still can rise to the
occasion, with a touching version of “Cabaret.” The bonus dvd has some
of Armstrong’s best performances from the late 50s. Jack Teagarden
shows up for a couple of tunes, most notably “Saint Louis Blues,” and
Armstrong is in rejuvenated form throughout material with artists
ranging from Chubby Jackson/b, Cozy Cole/dr, Edmond Hall/cl and an all
star team headed by Lionel Hampton that includes (take a deep breath)
Gerry Mulligan, Gene Krupa and George Shearing, as well as the
previously mentioned gents. A session with Ellington’s orchestra sounds
more Wagnerian than jazz, with screaming trumpets galore, but all is
forgiven with the inclusion of the CLASSIC summit meeting between
Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, performing “Umbrella Man.” Humor, chops
and even Satchmo’s classic reaction to Gillespie’s spit landing on his
face are all the essence and beauty of jazz, and should not be missed
by anyone.

Armstrong has always been criticized for not musically “changing with
the times.” But to his defense, I’d like to quote from the great
theologian GK Chesterton, “We worship the new instead of the eternal.
The notion of every generation proving the last generation worthless,
and is in its turn proved worthless by the next generation, is an
everlasting vision of worthlessness.” Enjoy the timeless beauty of this
music, just as you would a Mozart or Hayden, who also preferred
timeless quality to musically “changing with the times.”