[Dixielandjazz] New Tunes

[john petters]

> If I were a betting man, I would bet that there are several trumpet
> players around today that could exactly duplicate Louis' solos note for
> note and get the phrasing right and the sound close enough to fool 95 %
> of the people in the world who have heard Louis Armstrong play.
Steve you really are digging yourself into a hole on this one. Would you
care to name a trumpet player who could fool Jim, Butch or myself? I can
name plenty of hot players - but none come near to Louis.

John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 10:00 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] New Tunes


> Since we all agree that Louis was the greatest, we might take a lesson
> from him about "new" tunes.
>
> "Hello Dolly"  1963 - Number 1 on the charts, beat out the Beatles.
> (Yeah, I know, the nay sayers will declaim the tune sucked and so on and
> so forth, nobody liked it except the world wide audience)
>
> "What a Wonderful World" (Same comments as above because it was really
> popularized by Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam) Besides the early
> versions, check out the 1967 version with J. J. Johnson, Urbie Green,
> Clark Terry, Grady Tate, 12 Strings and a bunch of other modern jazzers
> backing his vocal.
>
> All of the Duke Ellington tunes he did in 1961 with Duke on Piano
> subbing for Billy Kyle, but with the rest of the All Stars. (Cottontail,
> Black & Tan Fantasy, In My Solitude, The Mooche, etc)
>
> His Country Western Album with the Nashville Rhythm Boys.
>
> His 1957 album with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis Ray Brown and Louis
> Bellson which included about 10 tunes not usually associated with
> Dixieland.
>
> His 1956 Album with Ella Fitzgerald. Same musicians as above except
> Buddy Rich is on drums instead of Bellson for some and Bellson is on for
> the rest. Many tunes not associated with Dixieland.
>
> Nor should we dismiss the 1968 recording of "Disney Songs the Satchmo
> Way", including Chim Chim Cheree.
>
> Or did Louis Armstrong sell out to commercialism? ;-)
>
> Regarding Jim Beebe's money challenge, it is wise to remember that Louis
> himself had some blank moments during his 1949 "blindfold" listening
> test said Louis:
> "For a moment it sounded like Johnny Dodds, for a moment it sounded like
> Ed Hall. That trumpet wouldn't be Dominique would it? Or Wingy?. Piano
> doesn't impress me, sounds like baby Dodds on drums . . . 3 stars.
>
> Clarinet? Sidney Bechet.
> Trumpet? Wild Bill Davison
> Piano? Art Hodes.
> Drums? Freddie Moore
> >From the album under Art Hodes lead, "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans"
>
> By the same token he said of another album: "The clarinet is trying to
> tell a story, you can follow him. He could not identify him. He gave
> that album 4 stars. It was a Bunk Johnson group with George Lewis on
> clarinet.
>
>
> Regarding High Notes:
>
> "Louis' reputation soared. Musicians came to decide for themselves
> whether he was as actually good as they'd heard he was. Several
> suspected Louis plugged his horn with chewing gum in order to achieve
> his earsplitting highs . . .Louis was happy to show his mouthpiece to
> anyone who cared to inspect it to scotch that rumor, and then wailed out
> on the bandstand. When Louis blew, hitting as many as 200 high C's in a
> row, the effect was astounding, numbing, and exhilarating. listeners
> thought they heard even more notes than he was actually blowing as the
> excitement spread from their ears to their brains and fingertips. Once
> he had everyone's attention, he proceeded to bend the notes as if he
> were putting a spin on a ball."
>
> "Although they were initially attracted by his power (the ear splitting
> volume) and his virtuosity (his rapidly running notes) musicians stayed
> to listen because Louis taught them a new approach to jazz."
>
> High, loud and fast don't count? As Louis, a consummate brass player
> would say, UUMPH!
>
> Cheers,
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz