[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

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Louis Armstrong: Ambassador of Jazz (Universal, 10 CD box set)
by John Fordham
London Guardian, August 19, 2011
On musical grounds alone, a 10-disc collection of Louis Armstrong's best work from
the 1920s to the 1960s can't help walking off with a five-star rating. The only reservation
about this unstintingly luxurious, memorabilia-laden set (packed in a miniature replica
of a battered-looking Armstrong suitcase, with a 200-page hardback book of photos
and narrative, sheet music, old studio schedules and much more) is that it sells
for a hundred quid plus, and inevitably features a lot of timeless material most
Armstrong admirers will already possess. But the set turned on a deal between Universal
and Sony BMG (which own 90% of Armstrong's output between them), so this is more
exhaustively comprehensive and varied than other rights-determined Armstrong compendiums.
Previously unreleased material includes a terrific 1956 Hollywood Bowl show with
Armstrong's more swing-oriented postwar All Stars band, in which his trumpet lines
soar and his high notes gleam; Mack the Knife is the only vocal (he hadn't yet become
the superstar singer of hits such as What a Wonderful World) apart from an engagingly
casual jam with Ella Fitzgerald on You Won't Be Satisfied. The only makeweight is
an hour-long conversation with jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, which stays pretty humdrum
for half its length. Until, that is, they start hitting a bottle of slivovica and
a reflective Armstrong recalls, among other things, his first mentor King Oliver's
emphasis on the importance of a clear melody -- a principle that this collection
constantly bears witness to.
Armstrong became a pop-singing celebrity after 1964 (many of his later fans barely
knew he played the trumpet) but though Hello Dolly and What a Wonderful World naturally
have their place on this set, the sensational trumpet improvising of the 1920s and
30s that did so much to power jazz's first wave properly dominates the tracklist.
Bessie Smith's majestic weariness, cajoled and coaxed by Armstrong's trumpet on St
Louis Blues; the famously blazing unaccompanied opening of West End Blues; the canny
hipness of the Weatherbird duet with pianist Earl Hines -- are all turning moments
in the evolution of modern music. And if you feel like listening to all 10 discs
as a weekend marathon, any distinctions between the genius of Armstrong's trumpet-playing
and his witty, rhythmically wayward and sometimes unexpectedly graceful singing totally
disappear as the hours pass.



--Bob Ringwald
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