Customer Reviews

25 Greatest Hot Fives & Sevens

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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If you're looking for the best single-disc collection of this incredible legacy, you've come to the right place. Everyone with even a slight interest in jazz (oh heck, make that EVERYONE, period!) needs to hear this music in some form!

But for many people, four discs may be overkill. This collection includes virtually all the mega-classics - Heebie Jeebies, Ski-Dat-Di-Dat, Mustrat Ramble, Struttin' With Some Barbecue, Potato Head Blues, Big Butter and Egg Man, Weather Bird, West End Blues, St. James Infrimary, the UTTERLY AMAZING Tight Like This, and more - and should make nearly anyone into a convert!

As for me, I already have the old 3-LP Columbia set (36 cuts), and there's very little from those that aren't on here that I miss (e.g., That's When I'll Come Back To You). And the convenience of having it on CD is well worth any duplications. The sound quality (given the original 20s recordings) and liner notes are excellent. This is an essential CD... unless you just decide to go whole hog and get one of the box sets!

"And I say IT IS tight like this!"

Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings have become immortal in the history of jazz. If you can't afford the complete boxed sets, this is the best collection to own. It will get you started and wet your appetite for more this man's groundbreaking genius. "West End Blues" alone is worth the price of this disc. No "best of" collection is really that without this renowned masterpiece. "Weather Bird" (also composed by his old boss King Oliver) can blow you away. And that's just to mention two of the cuts. This is the man who created much of the very vocabulary of jazz, and no one has ever said it better.

This music will make you want to drive straight to New Orleans and groove to the dixieland sounds that are the heart of all things Jazz! This is not Louis later "What A Wonderful World" Jazz/Pop. This is for serious Jazz listners only. But if your like me you just won't be able to take it out of your disc player. If you like this I recommend Bix Beiderbecke and Jelly Roll Morton.

If you are going to buy only one CD from Amstrong, this is the one I suggest.

A complete selection of the best era of Louis (The hot five and the hot Seven ensembles). Memorable songs are included here: "Cornet chop suey", "Willy the weeper", "Potato head blues", and "Weary blues". The price is even better than the box set.

This collection of 25 performances by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Fives, Hot Sevens, and other bands is as timeless as it is priceless. These early (1926-1928) recordings reveal Armstrong's genius in creating dixieland jazz as an art form. The gem of the collection is his profoundly moving 1928 performance of "West End Blues," which alone is worth the cost of the CD. But the other performances are equally astonishing for their creativity and verve. Sound quality is exceptionally good. Here are 75 minutes of the greatest jazz music you'll ever hear.

I can't begin to say how important this thing is. It's also totally awesome, but I don't think the importance can be understated. When people claim this collection belongs in every serious music collection, they are not exaggerating. This is one of THE documents of the founding of jazz as "art music." And the performances are exhilarating. Fundamentally great stuff.