[Dixielandjazz] Music & Showmanship

[Marek Boym]

> First: I was lucky enough to be in studio when
> Louis Armstrong recorded.
lucky indeed!

> I clearly remember
> one or two dates. Often, the engineers (who love
> to meddle with recordings) and the producers
> could not decide which take to use. Each take
> was unique, plus excellent, although similar.
> They hard a hard time deciding which one to use.
> On "Kiss To Build A Dream On" Billy Kyle played
> a downward run that was so long, he almost fell
> off the piano bench.
>
> My observation: Louis Armstrong did NOT play songs
> note for note but stayed close to the melody most of
> the time.

Finally, somebody KNOWLEDGABLE agrees with me!  I have experimented
with various recordings of the same song by Armstrong, playing one
after another, and they always sounded just a wee bit different -
enough to make the experiment worthwhile!
>
> Second: My comment (really Billy Taylor's comment)
> about what if....
> was a reference to innovation. Louis Armstrong changed
> music and influenced jazz forever. With the birth of the
> "All Stars" he continued playing music, call it what you
> want, but did he continue innovating?

Should he have?  His playing always sounded fresh, when he played (in
Tel-Aviv, at two concerts, he only played one solo).

Cheers
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