Customer Reviews

Satchmo the Great

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I first heard this montage on vinyl, probably 40 years ago, and being a teenager at the time, was prepared to immediately dismiss it; instead,I became infatuated with Satchmo's sounds, especially the New Orleans Funeral Music. Narrated by the inimitable Edward R. Murrow, it is one of the finest, if not the finest, collections of the sounds of Louis Armstrong, complete with Mack the Knife! This recording is as fine a lesson as a music lover could ask for; along with the musical tracks, the narration gives a feel for the history of the music which Louis Armstrong represents; the blues, jazz, spirituals, along with the deeply moving refrains sung by the slaves in the fields, moving and working to the rhythym of the only thing they owned, their music. Louis does that music proud, and the listener is transported from the modern day hustle and bustle to a time that was different...the formative years of our country and it's wonderful musical heritage. Thank you, Mr. Armstrong.

I am a great fan of Louis Armstrong. This is my all-time favourite recording because it contains very interesting interviews by Edward R. Murrow; the All-Stars are at their best in live concerts including a concert with a symphony orchestra; and it shows the human side of this great man. It is from the soundtrack of the film "Satchmo the Great" released through United Artists and produced by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. I would very much like to purchase a copy of this film. Any help anyone can give me would be very much appreciated.

One, if not THE best Live Records on Louis Armstrong ever. This is the sound-track to the Movie "Satchmo The Great: which for some strange reason has not yet been released on Video or DVD....??
Not only the amazing choice of songs but also the interview done by Edward R.Murrow has historical value - one can witness the seemingly always happy Louis in some serious conversations.
One of the absolute Highlights is The Live Version of Saint Louis Blues with Armstrong's All Stars - Edmond Hall Clarinet, Trummy Young Trombone, Barret Deems Drums, Billy Kyle Piano and Dale Jones Bass - playing together with the Lewisohn Stadium Symphony Orchestra under the lead of Leonard Bernstein, as well as the undoubtedly best version of Mahogany Hall Stomp from 1956.
One of the best Jazz records ever.

Basically, this extended sound track of a TV documentary contains some high-spirited Satchmo's All Stars performances, from the time he was still very much in his prime (1955-6), aided by exuberant Trummy Young on trombone, passionate Ed Hall on the clarinet, swinging Billy Kyle on piano, with reliable Arwell Shaw on bass and Barett Deems on drums...

The interviews and comments interspersed between the songs are unobtrusive and generally charming, so the only fault of this CD (that expands the program of the original vynil with few additional hot performances) is the "symphonic" performance of "St. Louis Blues" that really takes off only when ole satchelmouth takes the lead. But even that is not insulting; if you look at it as a cultural tribute to Armstorng and W. C. Handy (who was in the audience for the occasion) you will hardly notice it as a distraction. It is nowhere near the horrible "operatic" rendition of "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans" from the old New Orleans flick that had Satchmo and Billie Holiday in the supporting cast.

Great dixielandish jazz dominates this cd.

I have been after a CD of this ever since my brother had the record 45 years ago. Now I have it and it is the greatest!