Customer Reviews

Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings 2

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No doubt some listeners would prefer a single-volume "Best of -- " collection, but Amazon's prices make it eminently affordable to pick up each of the volumes from the Complete Hot Fives and Sevens. Volume 2 is especially indispensable because "Big Butter and Egg Man" is arguably the first complete, structured, satisfying improvised solo ever recorded (hard to believe there are still plenty of octogenarians who were born before the track was recorded). The more flamboyant side of Armstrong's unequaled genius as the father of jazz is apparent with "Wild Man Blues" and "Potato Head Blues." Were it not for the absence of "West End Blues" (Vol. 3), this would easily be the most indispensable of the three indispensable volumes.

Just as it requires some preparation and "homework" to fully appreciate the achievement of a James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Bela Bartok, Eisenstein or Picasso, the same is true of these Armstrong recordings, which quite honestly would belong at the top of any extremely selective list (from tens of thousands recordings) of achievements belonging in a time capsule of the most noteworthy examples of creative genius in the 20th century. I would recommend, as a book that is surprisingly accessible even to the non-specialist, Gunther Schuller's "Early Jazz" as a preface or accompaniment to listening to the recordings.

Those in the know say these are amoung the most important recordings in all of Jazz. In small doses or as part of a larger Jazz playlist any of the Hot Five/Hot Seven stuff is great, played end to end, it starts to run together - for me at least. West End Blues it just wonderfull over and over again. If you get this get One and Three as well, or else just get the best of the hot5/hot7 recordings.