[Dixielandjazz] allstars Armstrong

[Marek Boym]

On 21/11/2010, ROBERT R. CALDER <serapion at btinternet.com> wrote:
> I remember Louis was on TV a fair bit during a 1968 tour of Britain, with a
> complete concert much improved for me in comparison with earlier by the
> extravert doings of Tyree Glenn.

That band was much less than great, as was the one with Big chief
Russell Moore.  By then, Louis' playing ability was reduced by health
problems.

>
> But as I think Humphrey Lyttelton noted,  Louis All-Stars performances were
> strictly scripted and even the supposed jam at an airport brought no more
> than
> one item from the programme currently being toured.

True, but...
Try playing the same number, for example - Panama - from various All
Stars recordings, or various concerts.  On superficial hearing, they
may sound the same.  But if you listen more closely, you just might
hear different inflections, phrase endings, etc.  I've experimanted
with that, and the results were most satisfying.  Not to mention some
studio recordings.  To me, St. Louis Blues from "Plays W.C. Handy" has
always been the greatest performance of the song, and I don't mind it
being spliced!

Of course, when one listens to different lineups (say, with Ed Hall or
with Hucko or with Bigard, or with Billy Kyle as opposed to Marty
Napoleon), the differences in the same songs sound are more obvious.

Another way of checking this is comparing playing times - they almost
always differ from performance to performance.

I know that Edmond Hall was supoosed to have quit after a short time
because there was no room for improvisation, but I've never seen an
actual quote.

In any event, to me, Armstrong's playing almost always sounds great
(almost - because it did not when I caught him live in Tel-Aviv; I
went to two shows, and Armstrong played only one solo.  and not a very
good one.  But from here he went to Italy where he suffered a heart
attack).

>  and sometimes there
> was an unimpressed lady companion.

Like my wife.  After nearly 48 years together (45 as husband and
wife), she still hates jazz.  But an unimpressed companion (lady or
not) does not mean the performance is not good.  Beauty, after all,
lies in the ears of the listener.
>
>
> THE COMPLETE HOT 5s & 7s I found the truth of the legend in Potato Head
> Blues.

Oh, well...  That's another matter, even if I prefer other numbers.
But, to my ears, the first All Stars, with Big T and Hines sounded as
good, and the Boston Symphony Hall concert is a classic.  many years
later my friends claimed that the Chicago concert was as good, if not
better.  So I got that one as well - and it was not.  Good, yes, even
- great, but not as good.
>
> The later Louis all-stars routine pressed various buttons in the machinery
> of
> passive approval of a wider public, and there was an element of nostalgia
> well
> short of musical appreciation of the Hot 7 in some people who tapped their
> feet

A working musician cannot make a living playing only to dyed in wool
fans - there aren't enough of those.  If a musician wishes to live by
playing and not have a day job, he/she must find a way to a wider
public.

Cheers

>