[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong "When You're Smiling"
Stephen G Barbone
barbonestreet at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 10 14:29:30 PST 2010
I think this is Louis with the Dickerson Band. No doubt our mate, Bill
Haesler can shed more light on it.
Main point is that Louis was adapting to fit the dance craze that was
sweeping White America. I read somewhere that he did not consider
himself primarily a jazz musician but rather a musician who wanted to
reach the mass audience. He played a lot of danceable pop tunes to
reach that audience, from the late 1920s until he died.
During this sweet period, IMO, he was enamored, as others have said,
by Guy Lombardo's sound and so he fronted bands that played in that
style. (Dickerson, Russell et al) The great thing about this record
also IMO is (besides the vocal) his solo which is an octave above the
norm for it. So he gets his licks in.
Who can fault him for his "entertainer" outlook on music? Not me.
Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
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