Customer Reviews

Compl Decca Studio Master Takes 1935-1939

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It appears that with all these bargain boxes of Jazz cd's coming out the typical consumer sees price value and takes a chance..there are better sounding labels out there and my experience with Definitive Records,LoneHill Jazz,JSP and Proper Records have been positive and never felt beat by any of them.
In the case of Definitive Records and this 4 cd set, exhausting the master takes of Satchmo's Decca sides for the time period of 1935-1939 (as well as the the additional 2 cd set covering the 1940-1949 Decca period issued as a separate release but same style of packaging), the sound and overall presentation is crystal.
Informative liner and band notes are included.This label is really made for the Jazz aficionado and primarily the collector seeking hard to find quality releases...The label makes no bones and quite simply states that in it's honest approach .
There are 6 cd's if you also include the 1940-1949 collection available as a 2 cd set...Wonderfully, also high resolution 24 bit.
The music captures Armstrong at the tender age of 35-45 when he returned to the American studio after foreign travels and his great big band recordings of the early 1930's.History was still to be made.

This four-CD set is an absolute treat to listen to, again and again, discovering each time new reasons why Armstrong was in a class by himself.

Here he is at the peak of his awesome powers. It's 1935-1939 and he's home in America. He's got big ensembles backing him up (lots of well-known folks), and what must have been a neat-as-a-pin Decca recording studio. The sound is, as the other reviewer rightly noted, crystal. There isn't a weak side-man to be found.

What's more, the diversity of the selections is remarkable. Here, in one product, you can enjoy Satchmo on standards of the times ("Pennies From Heaven," "Jeepers Creepers"), the more instrumental ("Satchelmouth Swing,", the classic version of "When the Saints Go Marching In"), "new" songs that became staples right on through the later All-Stars days ("Save It, Pretty Mama," "Our Monday Date"), a taste of the tropics ("Treasure Island") a little hokum here and there, some traditional spiritual ("Shadrack," "Going To Shout All Over God's Heaven") and even the spoken (Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Generosity").

The recording freeze that came with the onset of WWII renders this collection all the more essential, as a true representation of Armstrong's powers in his mid-30's. The playing and singing are both extraordinary. In my opinion, the same can't be said post WWII. And the sophistication of the songs sets this apart from the pioneering Hot Five and Seven earlier days.

I believe the appeal of this set transcends just the jazz aficionados. There are things for everybody to enjoy. Picking out any of the four CDs, and listening to just three or four songs, is certain to bring an added bounce to your step, and smile on your face!

There is absolutely no need to pay high prices for Armstrongs earlier Decca recordings. There are at least a half dozen versions out on CD. The Mosaic label version is the best, equalled by the Ambassador label version. The Fremeaux label version is also perfectly fine. There are others and there will continue to be more issues as long as music is sold. None of them, except the Mosaic label, are taken from the so-called "metal parts" (the masters). You'd be just fine buying the least expensive version you can find, as most of the import-collectors labels simply copy each other.

But do enjoy these recordings. They are wonderful

These Cds contain the complete Louis Armstrong recordings issued for Decca between 1935-1939. The producers did a fabulous job on the sound, and with a couple of exceptions all the recordings are in chronological order.

Anyone familiar with the daredevil attacks of the earlier Armstrong recordings will find him cutting back on the ear-splitting notes, and focusing more on less dramatic, more subtle readings and music-making. If some of his love of excitment for excitement's sake, and raw rowdiness has been trimmed back, he now offers instead playing with a more settled maturity, and what playing - such a striking perfection - and what tone production! Armstrong was always a supremely knowing player, the epitome of confidence, but here he finds in addition a clarity of vision that carries over to the listener, embracing both Armstrong and the rest of us mere mortals in a mutual joy in music-making and life.

This set represents Louis playing with complete mastery of his material, and is beyond criticism.

When I purchased this box set of four Cds I never in my wildest dreams imagined it would go out of print! That the prices of used copies of this magisterial collection are so high is tragic. It's to be hoped a reissue will soon make this splendid album - as well as the following sets in this series - once again available so anyone can buy and enjoy this fabulous musician and his wonderful recordings.