The Ultimate Collection [Box set]

Louis Armstrong

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: July 25, 2000
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00004UFNU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,841 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This three-CD collection provides a remarkable overview of Louis Armstrong's career, beginning with 1924 recordings with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra and carrying all the way through the decades to include the pop hits from the 1960s, like "Hello, Dolly" and "What a Wonderful World." Along the way, there's plenty to document Armstrong's position as the first great soloist of jazz, its first great singer, and a popular entertainer whose charm was as unique as his musical talent.

The 1920s are represented by his stellar performances as a "sideman" to regular associates, like his wife, Lil Hardin Armstrong, and clarinetist Johnny Dodds. The 1930s find him leading his own bands, big and small, and recording with Jimmy Dorsey and Bing Crosby ("Pennies from Heaven"), and the Mills Brothers. The '40s and '50s are the years of the All-Stars, with Armstrong's trumpet joyously exploding in the company of such fellow giants as trombonist Jack Teagarden and pianist Earl Hines.

He was also creating richly nostalgic recordings like "Blueberry Hill," and singing duets with the finest jazz singers of the period, women whose own art had been shaped in different ways by Armstrong's--Billie Holiday on "You Can't Lose a Broken Heart" and Ella Fitzgerald on "Stompin' at the Savoy." Armstrong's humor shows up on a mock recreation of a New Orleans jazz funeral and a version of "You Rascal, You" with Louis Jordan, and his brilliant trumpet is everywhere in evidence. Just as important as what's here is what's left out. Many of Armstrong's greatest recordings---those with King Oliver, all the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens of the late 1920s, the 1947 Town Hall concert, the '50s tributes to W.C. Handy and Fats Waller, and the late encounter with Duke Ellington--aren't touched. What's left is a fascinating and satisfying portrait of Armstrong that doesn't necessarily lead to a great deal of duplication in an expanding collection of his work. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Oct, 1924 with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra......, August 4, 2000

By	"ooscott" (Manhasset, NY) - See all my reviews

to July, 1968 performing in Las Vegas with the Allstars, no other Louis Armstrong compilation provides the listner with a more in depth and satisfying collection of Satchmo's colossal talent. These 59 selections, performing with jazz illuminaries such as Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Dorsey, the Mills Brothers, Gordon Jenkins, Sy Oliver, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, not to mention his own Louis Armstrong Orchestra and Allstars have been painstakenly restored and presented in chronologial sequence. Both jazz aficionado and novice will delight at the marvelous selection of Satchmo classics such as Jeepers Creepers, Ain't Misbehavin', When the Saints Go Marchin' In, Basin Street Blues, When It's Sleepy Time Down South, What a Wonderful World, Cararet and so many many more. To say this is absolute essential listening is like saying the New York Yankees are a pretty good ball club.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not normally a compilation guy likes this one!, August 28, 2001

By A Customer

Bought this compilation here in Spain, as a sort of temporary fix while I'm away from the States. This CD includes virtually nothing from my favorite works, but it's turned out to be a good thing. Strings or no, his version of "It's All in the Game" is beautifully sung. And, proving once again that nobody sang it like Louis, the version here of "Sweet Lorraine" made me appreciate a standard that I had always ignored. Oh, how he sings, "...I'm so happy / when it's rainin' I don't miss the sun..."!! In particular, I was ignorant of his work in the late thirties and early forties, and what they have here has converted me. I don't normally find myself buying compilations, and especially with artists I'm already familiar with, but this is one I will continue listening to until I can get all the performances on other CDs. If you buy this, may you enjoy it much!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Louis Armstrong, December 17, 2007

By	D. A. Moore "music lover" (SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this box collection for a gift and it is one of the best collections of Louis Armstrongs music that has ever been put together. I recommend it to all of his fans.