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What is Sony/Columbia thinking? This collection shows much of the same careful planning and production values of Sony/Columbia's restoration of "Ellington at Newport '56," an astonishing and preeminently successful use of digital technology to restore a flawed vinyl masterpiece. Don't let the price "discourage" you--despite appearances, this isn't one of those quick and careless "budget" CDs that you occasionally find at truck stops. Despite Amazon's bargain price, this is an exceptionally well-produced and comprehensive collection that will do any record collector proud while bringing class and shine to his holdings.
As far as the caveats go, Louis' horn is not as full-sounding as a modern recording would represent it, nor the bass as prominent. Otherwise, the fidelity leaves little to be desired--the vocals are exceptionally well recorded and the ensemble balance sounds just fine (except perhaps to ears conditioned to disproportionate bass). It's true that this particular ensemble was far from Louis' most admired. Velma Middleton had her detractors, especially among the Down Beat critics (she's not featured and is heard on only a couple of numbers), and Barney Bigard had more favorite licks to fall back on than Edmund Hall, the other clarinetist Louis frequently toured with during this period. And there are even some who found Trummy Young's trombone "blatty" compared to Jack Teagarden's (true, but there was only one "T"). Overall, and especially in retrospect, it's a cohesive, relaxed, and "comfortable" group of players, perfect for setting off the grandfatherly, fun-loving yet wise and laconic patriarchal icon that Armstrong had become by the '50s.
Still, he's far from a museum piece. There are plenty of passages of highly engaging, even brilliant and, especially on the bonus historical recordings, "passionate" trumpet work, vocals, and scat singing by the father of the jazz solo. The original LP had 9 tracks, and the 1986 CD reissue was inferior due to the inadvertent substitution of alternate tracks for the originals. The present disc has 20 tunes--not just masters and alternates from the 1955 session but 7 Armstrong performances of Waller's music recorded between 1928 and 1932 (with surprisingly "modern" fidelity and enough evidence to convince all but the most unperceptive of Armstrong's singular importance and genius stature in American music).
You could download the twenty tracks for twenty bucks, of course, but in doing so you would miss out on the liner notes (or more accurately, booklet). It includes a facsimile of the original LP front and back, complete listings of personnel (from Red Allen to J. C. Higginbotham) specific dates, an essay about Fats Waller, and brief analyses of each of the songs.
This recording walks all over a far-less satisfying collection such as the Ken Burns anthology, which presents Pops' commercial treacle from "Blueberry Hill" and "Mack the Knife" to "What a Wonderful World" and "Hello Dolly." Forget that ephemera. This session has plenty of meat on the bones and lots of pep in Pops' step (dig the surprisingly fast tempo of "Ain't Misbehaving"). I could listen to this all night. Compared to my unused new HDTV, it's no contest: Satch and Fats surpass high definition any time; in fact, they defined and redefined jazz and all of American popular music.
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Top reviews from other countries
PianoLadyAlex
Louis Armstrong in great form with the All Stars in the mid 1950s.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2023Mark Anderson
First Rate 1955-56 Recordings Of Fats Waller Compositions With Bonus Tracks From 1929-1932
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