Product Description:
Personnel: Louis Armstrong (vocals, cornet); Johnny Dodds (alto saxophone, clarinet); Edward "Kid" Ory (trombone); Lil Hardin Armstrong (piano); Johnny St, Cyr (banjo).
Producers: Richard M. Jones, Tommy Rockwell.
Compilation producer: Michael Brooks.
Recorded between November 1925 and November 1926. Includes liner notes by Gary Giddens.
That Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings are among the most influential musical documents of the 20th century is already well known. That the recordings represent landmark advances in improvised music--both for ensemble and the solo instrumentalist--is a historical fact. That these recordings cast the mold for jazz's future with their wit, technical prowess, rhythmic intensity, and exuberant performances (including what is arguably the first scat solo in Armstrong's vocal on "Heebie Jeebies") is a given.
What's new here is Legacy's repackaging of the sessions. VOL. 1 of the three-volume set features the Hot Five lineup, including Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Johnny St. Cyr on banjo, and Lil Hardin Armstrong (Louis's wife) on piano and vocals. Naturally, Armstrong's virtuoso cornet playing and revolutionary jazz singing are at the forefront. The advantage here is that all the Hot Fives dates are included under one cover (in the past they were split between two discs, as on Columbia's 1988 reissues, or issued as part of a set, as in the Legacy box). Fine liner notes and superb sound improve on what is already brilliant, funky, utterly unique music. Essential doesn't even come close to describing it.
For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved.
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