25 Greatest Hot Fives & Sevens

Louis Armstrong

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 16, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asv Living Era
• ASIN: B000001HIS
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #87,003 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This collection bulges with the hottest and most dazzling jazz of the 1920s, with Armstrong dragging his lesser colleagues along with him in a whirlwind of inspiration. How a young man from the rugged and unbending background of downtown New Orleans could learn to play such sophisticated, sure-footed magic will never be known. He pops up to astonish on the 1926 tracks with classic ideas already spouting from his horn. Over the next three years, he would metamorphose into the sublime creator of the trumpet solo on the last track, "Tight Like This," one of the most dramatic and enchanting solos in the whole of jazz. Before that are fresh-as-a-daisy cornet acrobatics, as found on "Potato Head Blues" and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue." There's more exquisite playing on "Savoy Blues," where Lonnie Johnson adds some eloquent guitar. And then there's "West End Blues," the trumpet classic par excellence that brings in pianist Earl Hines, already a decade ahead of his time and one of the most potent influences on Armstrong. This is a thoroughly enjoyable history lesson. --Steve Voce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one to get if you can't spring for one of the boxes!, March 28, 2001

By	Michael S. Goldfarb "doctorstrange" (Verplanck, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're looking for the best single-disc collection of this incredible legacy, you've come to the right place. Everyone with even a slight interest in jazz (oh heck, make that EVERYONE, period!) needs to hear this music in some form!

But for many people, four discs may be overkill. This collection includes virtually all the mega-classics - Heebie Jeebies, Ski-Dat-Di-Dat, Mustrat Ramble, Struttin' With Some Barbecue, Potato Head Blues, Big Butter and Egg Man, Weather Bird, West End Blues, St. James Infrimary, the UTTERLY AMAZING Tight Like This, and more - and should make nearly anyone into a convert!

As for me, I already have the old 3-LP Columbia set (36 cuts), and there's very little from those that aren't on here that I miss (e.g., That's When I'll Come Back To You). And the convenience of having it on CD is well worth any duplications. The sound quality (given the original 20s recordings) and liner notes are excellent. This is an essential CD... unless you just decide to go whole hog and get one of the box sets!

"And I say IT IS tight like this!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jazz Immortality!, January 11, 2001

By	taoman (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings have become immortal in the history of jazz. If you can't afford the complete boxed sets, this is the best collection to own. It will get you started and wet your appetite for more this man's groundbreaking genius. "West End Blues" alone is worth the price of this disc. No "best of" collection is really that without this renowned masterpiece. "Weather Bird" (also composed by his old boss King Oliver) can blow you away. And that's just to mention two of the cuts. This is the man who created much of the very vocabulary of jazz, and no one has ever said it better.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jazz Essentials 101, January 6, 2001

By	Peter Kaiafas (Valparaiso, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This music will make you want to drive straight to New Orleans and groove to the dixieland sounds that are the heart of all things Jazz! This is not Louis later "What A Wonderful World" Jazz/Pop. This is for serious Jazz listners only. But if your like me you just won't be able to take it out of your disc player. If you like this I recommend Bix Beiderbecke and Jelly Roll Morton.