Customer Reviews

Ambassador Satch (Sl)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the best Armstrong album ever! One of the things that sets it apart is the music. The backbone of this album is made up of traditional jazz numbers, not the pop songs that show up on so many of his albums. It's a shame that Armstrong is much more known for the latter. Furthermore, the enthusiastic European crowds inspired the band to play it's best. Clearly everybody is having a good time. I can't understand why it took so long for this album to be reissued.

Louis Armstrong was at his peak on these spectacular live recordings around the world, reminiscent of his earlier hot five and seven recordings, this is some fine Satchmo playing and singing. The audience is estatic throughout, showing no matter what country he was in, everybody loved ol' Satchmo, and you will too after listening to these essential Louis Armstrong sides.

I wore this LP out twice as a youngster...This is my favorite Satchmo recording...And I believe I've heard/purchased most all the available Armstrong recordings from his beginnings... Barret Deems on drums, Billy "Crazy Otto" Kyle on piano, Edmond Hall on clarinet,-all outstanding...This is the hot stuff!! And the crowds love it...I'm so pleased that it is now available on CD... Don Gibson.(Mr. Skins)..

Armstrong fans will appreciate the joyfull exuberance of these live european recordings. Audiophiles will cringe at the SACD treatment of this album. Analog tape hiss from the original recordings is faithfully reproduced on the SACD treatment and on quiet passages, the tape hiss is overwhelming and distracting. With the premium cost of SACD recordings, I think Columbia could have digitally cleaned this recording up before releasing it. Worth adding as a Jazz album, not worth adding as an SACD demo.

Wow - I must have bought the last copy Amazon had --- only 3rd party sellers are listed as of today.

These performances of Armstrong and his band are absolutely ripping hot. Royal Garden Blues sounds like straight-ahead jazz. But sound-wise, it's got deficiencies. By 1955, the sound quality of studio stereo and 3 track recordings already exceeded in definition what Redbook CD's can deliver (as witnessed by the glorious tonal quality of the RCA Living Stereo reissues on SACD, and Satch's SACD, "Ella and Louis"). However the equipment they used for these live recordings was not state of the art studio. In fact, although the disk says "Stereo", these are all monophonic tracks. The hiss isn't too bad, and the high frequency roll off not too bothersome, but the worst aspect is that, when the brass really get sizzling, you hear clipping distortion, sounding like Toscanini's 1950s recordings. The 3 bonus tracks, though, have much less clipping. So, the SACD won't give you more than you can get on the CD reissue --- which is also out of print. But Amazon offers MP3 downloads. All in all, this SACD makes for an enjoyable experience, but not a time machine to take you back to Satchmo live.

At the times I'm writing this, the album still seems to be available on the British version of the Amazon (although the price is anything but low)...
Well then:

Whether it's a dixieland warhorse such as "Tiger Rag" or "Tin Roof Blues" or standards like "All of me" or "Undecided", this group is really swinging, jubilant, absolutely brilliant, with hot ensembles and great individual features.

Armstrong's incandecent trumpet was still at (or darn near) its peak in the mid-50s when this album was recorded and his vocal chops were as flexible and as expressive as they ever were or would be (check out "All of me"...)...
Many of these tunes go back to Hot Fives and Hot Seven dates with Satchmo, so it's quite interesting to listen to these new version of "12th Street Rag" (at least equal to the the old one; with Billy Kyle's "retro" playing far more swinging than Lil Hardin's ever could be, with Deems, Young and Hall quite capable of filling their predecessor shoes). As for "West end Blues"... Well, don't take my word for it - check out for your self whether I'm right when I say it's magnificent and quite comparable to the historical version...

This album is a brilliant way to approach Armstrong's art; in addition to other laudatitons, the song choice is also excellent; except for the "Faitfull Hussar", all the songs are proven jazz-standards.

I also wore out an LP of this album when I was young and cannot figure out why it took so long to be released. I also cannot understand why it is never played on radio. This is more fun than any of Armstrong's "great" work; perhaps it is too accessible for those who must feel "in."
"Undecided" is one of my favorite tracks, with Trummy Young just great on trombone. The drummer, Barrett Deems, is often overlooked--a master of jazz timing.
If you want "classic," get the W. C. Handy. If you want a lot of pleasure for years, get this one.

After a few years of seeing nothing but "The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens", and "What a Wonderful World" in stores, it's wonderful to finally get a great album like this re-released. Here, we get the pleasure of listening to Louis and his All-Stars play nothing but pure jazz, yet the recording is late enough to provide clear sound quality, unlike the earlier "scratchy-sounding" recordings (not to say that those aren't great).

This music always makes me feel good. This is one of the best CD's from the 1950's made by Armstrong. He is supported by a great team of musicians, of whom I especially liked clarinettist Edmond Hall. There is a rendition of the 1928 classic "west end blues", a hillarious "the faithful Huzzar" done only as Armstrong could. Don't expect to hear trumpet solos in the 1920's Armstrong style, but I found the trumpet playing as good as got in the 1950's and after. You can't help but love it.

I think it is great that this is on CD, so maybe some more folks can discover it. Yes, Louis' two CDs (LPs) "Plays...Handy, Fats", are great recordings, but this takes a back seat to nothing. Satch Live, especially with Edmund Hall, (and Barrett Deems shows what he's all about on this one) and the rest of the All-Stars is pure Magic. The bonus tracks may be nice for some...me, I'll keep playing my third LP copy...