Customer Reviews

C'est Ci Bon: Satchmo in the Forties

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I can't believe I've gone this long in my life without owning this fantastic collection of Satchmo in the Forties.

Do you like pure jazz?

Do you like the big band sound?

Do you like blues?

Do you like the New Orleans sound?

Do you like awesome trumpet playing?

Do you like Louis Armstrong?

It's all here. Some of the best music you'll ever own. I just recently purchased "C'est Ci Bon" and can't be bothered with listening to anything else.

The two renditions of "Rocking Chair" are worth the purchase price alone. As with many other cuts this one features the vastly underrated Jack Teagarden along with Satchmo.

Other featured performers include Billie Holiday, the Mills Brothers, Barney Bigard, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton. A veritable who's who of the mid century music industry.

Of course Armstrong is the star attraction and I have to revise my previously held views and say that this was when he was at this best. He was, by comparison, rougher in the Thirties and blander in the Fifties. His voice, his horn playing and his arrangements are at their best in this set. Enclosed with the set is one of the better insert booklets you'll come across, replete with background information, full discography and pictures.

Great music and a great bargain.

C'est Ci Bon literally means that it's so good, and this box set is better than good! This chronicles 86 of Armstrong's biggest hits from 1940-1950. All with a 48-page booklet and extensive liner notes and at a very affordable price---even new---to boot! Every jazz lover should have this in his or her collection. Yes, okay some of the live songs are a bit too long. But you need to hear the live versions of "Muskrat Ramble" and "Boff-Boff" (love the drum solo in the middle!). And he actually improves on Duke Ellington's "C-Jam Blues" (unbelievable but true). Those songs, along with his versions of "Black and Blue", "Perdido Street Blues", and "St. James Infirmary", make this set worth every penny!

Of course, when you have this many songs there's bound to be a few missteps. But only very few! There's a few standards that I find corny ("Since I fell For You" for example). Also, I never realized how lame the English lyrics to "La Vie En Rose" are! However, somehow Louis himself can record a standard and it'll usually sound far better than any other version. He will either almost always sing it in a way that gives an edge to the trite lyrics he's singing, or he'll turn it into a kick-butt insturmental (witness "Body and Soul" or "Tea For Two"). And while Louis was never a technically a great singer in the traditional sense, his singing by this time had greatly improved over his earlier days (although I love the early days too). Though great singing doesn't always make a great song, witness "Cherry". I have the biggest problem with this song because it isn't jazz. It's more barber-shop harmony. But I quibble. This is an excellent box set!

This gets an A-plus! It's a must-have if you love traditional jazz!

A short simple WOW! This is an absolutely glorious collection of Armstrong classics. Should be in everyone's music collection.