One of the main recording sessions of "late" Louis Armstrong finally available complete and in excellent sound!

In June 1959 saw Louis Armstrong's music career a first decisive turning point: While touring in Italy overtook him a first severe heart attack that forced him to stay in hospital, concert cancellation and interruption of his musical activity - and the same time the beginning of the physical and health decline over the next 12 years until his death in 1971 marked what forced him increasingly to reduce his trumpet playing. (It is known that he had to almost completely abandon the last two years of his life due to advanced heart failure on his trumpet and could only act as a singer.)
It is astounding is that it almost 3 months later, not only was back in the recording studio, but there - even for the standards of his recording career - to excel could: In August 1959, he stood for the label "Audio Fidelity", one of the early pioneers of stereo LPs, together with the white band "Dukes of Dixieland" in the studio. These sessions - for the first Armstong in Stereo - were continued in September / October 1959 and his All Stars In May 1960, again with the Dukes of Dixieland.
Highlighting value at these recording sessions is three things:
1. All three sessions in common is the thematic return to the early years of jazz. So Armstrong tied to a certain extent on the last recordings of 1958 to - some of the title for the album "I Love Jazz", and in particular the recording of the soundtrack for the movie Red Nichols Story "The Five Pennies" (with which the Armstrong among others old vaudeville song from 1902 "Bill Bailey" helped to a rebirth, which was then also included in the 1959 Dukes of Dixieland studio sessions with). However, were unlike the legendary, unfortunately recorded even in mono music project "Satchmo's Musical Autobiography" of 1956/57 not Armstongs own early hits and contributions to jazz history re-recorded, but mainly other classics of Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz - measured what quite obviously stimulated to his daily routine in the 50s / 60s so comparatively fresh and suitable material for him it to new excellence. It's impressive to see how the almost 60 year old Satchmo at this item in turn could create Timeless, Refined.
2. There are not only Armstrong's first stereo albums, but also in sound technology really masterly was independent of done: Rarely is Armstrong's trumpet fuller and been better received than on the master takes these sessions (what the medical history is doubly amazing angsichts).
3. Musically makes Armstrong in these photographs again really big: His horn sounds still radiant and sometimes virtuoso, but there are often - relaxed and beautiful - the quiet and resting in itself moments in the foreground, with which you look at the core of New Orleans music approaches. (This is especially true for the 1959 All Stars session.)
Conclusion: Overall, include Aunfahmen the best that Armstong has received since its Hot-five days. Very little of what to include in the remaining years, reached this quality again.
In particular, its management has failed to allow him to play in more "concept albums" with adequate, worthy material. (So ​​such can be the 1964 album "Hello Dolly", as well as this may be, not really describe, and "Satchmo plays Disney" from 1968 and the Western music from 1970 are rather nice curiosities as real highlights of the Jazz. And the " Reunion "album with Duke Ellington in 1961 was not in the best health Armstong form, which unfortunately is heard in these recordings.) This is a more and more amazing bigger failure than at the same time Ella and Sinatra with such albums timeless" Standard "only created; the singer Louis Armstrong could certainly contribute here ...
Instead, after much remained fragmentary and random in its henceforth dominated by musicals and secondary days hits recording career (although - astonishingly, one might add - its biggest commercial successes in the form of "Hello Dolly", "Mame" and "What a Wonderful World" come should).

So the three audio Fidelety Sessions one of the last highlights of his work records remain in any case.

From the outset, the title of this session were never published in full:
The "Master Takes" of all 12 tracks of the 1960 sessions were published on the Audio Fidelity LP "LOUIE AND THE DUKES OF DIXIELAND" (1960); later the Audio Fidelity LP "THE DEFINITIVE ALBUM BY LOUIS ARMSTRONG" by containing the "Master Takes" by 10 of the 13 titles in 1959 rehearsed with the Dukes of Dixieland. Also in 1960 came the Audio Fidelity LP "SATCHMO PLAY King Oliver", which the "Master Takes" of 12 of a total of 14 well-established title with the All Stars 1959 contained.
The lack of title ("Bye and bye", "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" and "Muskrat Ramble" from the 1959 session of the Dukes of Dixieland, "Snake Rag" and "New Orleans Stomp" from the 1959 session of the All Stars) initially remained unpublished, as some also very listenable "Alternative Takes" (8 out of the All Star Session, 9 out of 1959, 11 out of the 1960 session with the Dukes of Dixieland, making a total of 28 shots). This was for the record with the Dukes of Dixieland after Armstrong's death on the Chiaroscuro label rescheduled (LP "SWEETHEART - DEFINITIVE ALTERNATIVES" = Alternative Takes the 1959 sessions, LP "GREAT ALTERNATIVE" = Alternative Takes the 1960 sessions).

From then floated these recordings through various editions on LP and later CD, mainly on the cheap labels in department store junk, often shortened in poor sound quality, mislabeled, never complete. The tonqualitativ loving Edition was the - also incomplete - double LP "Portrait Louis Armstong" of Bellaphon 1977th
Basically not changed this by the 3 CDs ("Bourbon St. Parade", "Limehouse Blues" and "Doctor Jazz"), which were brought out in an orderly sound quality 1997 Releases Blue Moon: The above 3 missing tracks with the Dukes of Dixieland were here as we left out all alternative takes. A carefully edited Complete Edition of recordings missing continue.

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Finally, in 2002 joined the label Fuel 2000 Records with the present CD "Satchmo Plays King Oliver" this important gap. It provides the excellent tonqualitativ complete edition of the 1959 All Star Session - the first time with all the titles and all alternative takes.
(2007 appeared then a corresponding complete edition of the Dukes of Dixieland sessions in the form of 3-CD box set "The Complete Louis Armstong and the Dukes of Dixieland" from Essential Jazz Classics.)

Rarely the All Stars have more relaxed and introspective sounded as recorded in these excellent recordings. Trummy Young (trombone) waives any rustic tone and showed instead, which was a New Orleans he Trombone blow able. Peanuts Hucko (clarinet) is - compared to its subsequent and gradually wearied him acting successor and predecessor Barney Bigard pros - a win for the ensemble with its liquid, but no-frills, quiet game. And Billy Kyle (piano) is once more a guarantee of balanced musicality.
Among the outstanding, predominantly sparingly arranged pieces protrude hardly single out. All the pieces are from the repertoire of the band King Oliver or their time in New Orleans and Chicago in the late 1910s, early 1920s.
If anything, the impressive "St. James Infirmary" - a title of the Armstrong has already created several "versions century" - with its keening three-part - instrumental and vocal - Intro single out yet. "Chimes Blues" with the leitmotif descending piano-sixths in the intro is a cast in record miniature of New Orleans essence that the comparison with the original from the 20s need fear no means in their skillfully relaxed pace, as "New Orleans Stomp" , (However, "Jelly Roll Blues", "Drop that bag" and some other items are hardly worse.) Stephen Foster's old folk song "(My) Old Kentucky Home" from 1853 unusual material for Armstrong appears at first glance to be, turns but. as a perfect vehicle for the "old wise" Satchmo (Please note the relaxed vocal choruses with subtle swinging bass piano accompaniment and the beautiful frugal Fill-ins of Trummy Young as well as the three-part vocal chorus a little later.)
However, the most beautiful but also most unusual recording is the old Negro folk song "Frankie and Johnny", the Louis Armstrong sang great alone to a (wonderfully played!) Western saloon piano of Billy Kyle. - Satchmo as Storyteller of Folk Song Tradition - a masterful milestone of his work records!

Recommendation:
Urgent purchase recommendation for this now hard to find CD-Album (best equal together with the above-mentioned CD-Box "The Complete Louis Armstong and the Dukes of Dixieland") !!
For the collector and connoisseur Armstrong the complete edition is already an indispensable item - but also the newcomers to the world of the New Orleans Jazz and wonderfully stylish these albums, not least because he has to wade through no acoustic barriers historic recordings.