d  i  s  s  i  d  e  n  t

a r t i s t : Louis Armstrong

t i t l e : The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings Vol. 1

d a t e : 2003

l a b e l : Columbia/Legacy

g e n r e : Jazz

r l s.  d a t e : Jul/2003

t r a c k s : 20

b i t r a t e : 192kbps

s i z e : 78,3 MB

Legacy has seen fit - and rightfully so - to issue the complete

recordings of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Seven as individual

volumes instead of just a box set. This is a solid way to go for

collectors trying to fill holes. It's also the best way for a

beginner, not only with Armstrong's music but that of early-

recorded jazz, to become acquainted with the development of

improvisation in the music. Volume 1 concentrates on the Hot Five

material from 1925 and 1926. The first band included Armstrong,

Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, pianist Lil Hardin,

and banjo boss Johnny St. Cyr. These 20 recordings were made for

the Okeh label. The blues model on which all of these tunes were

based is extrapolated upon and remade in the image of first the

ensemble and then in the image of the soloist. From "My Heart"

and the amazing "Oriental Strut" to "Lonesome Blues," to "Come

Back Sweet Papa," to the introduction of scat singing in Lil

Hardin's "Skid-Dat-De Dat," the exuberance and professionalism

just drip from these tunes. But notions of harmonic invention are

also present, places where the soloist slips outside the changes

and moves toward reaching a musical unity with the ensemble by

whatever means necessary as long as it swung. The sound here is

as good as it gets for the time, and after one or two listens,

the hiss is barely recognizable. What's important is the fidelity

of the music, and it's excellent. - Thom Jurek

01-My Heart                                               [02:25]

02-Yes! I'm The Barrel                                    [02:38]

03-Gut Bucket Blues                                       [02:42]

04-Come Back, Sweet Pea                                   [02:28]

05-Georgia Band                                           [02:34]

06-Heebie Jeebies                                         [02:54]

07-Cornet Chop Suey                                       [02:57]

08-Oriental Strut                                         [03:02]

09-You're Next                                            [03:16]

10-Muskrat Ramble                                         [02:32]

11-Don't Forget To Mess Around                            [03:03]

12-I'm Gonna Gitcha                                       [02:44]

13-Droppin' Shucks                                        [02:52]

14-Who'sit                                                [02:45]

15-King Of The Zulus                                      [03:05]

16-Big Fat Ma And Skinny Pa                               [03:00]

17-Lonesome Blues                                         [03:04]

18-Sweet Little Papa                                      [02:45]

19-Jazz Lips                                              [03:02]

20-Skid-Dat-De-Dat                                        [03:02]

56:50 min

e m a i l: diss@subdimension.com

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