S&D: Louis Armstrong

No way to your first question, yes to the second.
JSP has a box set of the Complete Hot 5s and 7s that is essential -- possibly the most important recordings in the history of pop music. Your Columbia box set has some of these but in vastly inferior sound. And avoid the Columbia version of the complete set. The JSP set sounds the best and is dirt cheap ($25 or so for 4 CDs).
Then get JSP's "Big Band Recordings 1930-1932," a 2-CD set. Another superb set.
Next, search out his early recordings on Decca, where he put more emphasis on his vocal talents. Some of these are available on Decca or the Classics labels.
Some other fine sets are "Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography," a 1950s series of recordings in which he revisits his old stuff; and "Ella & Louis," "Plays W.C. Handy," and "The Complete RCA Victor Recordings."
His Verve recordings aren't as essential, I don't think. He also did a great set with Duke Ellington in the early 60s.
Hope this helps.

I just got this a week or two ago, and although my taste for jazz is waning this is still very good.

You can't go wrong with Armstrong, I even like his version of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream"...

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0009I476Q.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

me too, I first heard the volumes from the Columbia series and whatever JSP did to clean up the hiss sacrificed some warmth too, not that you should or would care if you weren't used to the Columbia ones. Thinking of the comp-as-mixtape, I much prefer the Columbia sequencing too but whatever, the JSP is great anyway.

also search: him singing w/ Dave Brubeck's band on "Summer Song" near the end of his life, his fading but ever-hopeful growl adds slabs of poignance to an already lovely tune.

Proper has just put out a 4CD box of Louis' early stuff for about $18 or so. Haven't heard it so I can't weigh in on the mastering but the price is certainly right.

just read this bio of louis armstrong by terry teachout (wall street journal drama critic) - it swings!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41cIIMnzkpL._SL500_AA266_PIkin2,BottomRight,-16,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

not a fan of teachout's journalism - he's a reactionary windbag IMO - but this book is pretty great, judicious and full of details gleaned from louis' voluminous memoirs, journals, letters. had no idea armstrong was such a jazzy writer. and the book is compact - tight like that - less than 400 pp, rather than a sprawling multi-volume set.

yeah, i enjoyed this book, a good mix of life/music + as you say, compact, at least compared to a lot of bios. actually made me want to read all of Louis' memoir stuff.

christgau review here fwiw:

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/Pops-as-Pop/ba-p/2578

Clear, balanced, accurate, fast-flowing, and musically informed though it is, Pops is based on secondary sources.

when your subject has been dead for almost 40 years, along w/most of his collaborators & colleagues, how else to proceed?

Born 110 years ago today. Man should be on our currency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhVdLd43bDI

Ah, American currency anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYJkD3pkNE
kind of an amazing collection of people here

heh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyH85LK-lI&list=UUOIbeYUX2aig&index=44
kind of like this, anyone heard his country album? guess he was riding ray charles' coattails there?

HB Louis Armstrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmmFKu4FEbc

Just picked this up the other day. Takes a detailed look at Armstrong's recordings during his early period and is getting rave reviews. The author, Thomas Brothers, also wrote Louis Armstrong's New Orleans.
http://manwithoutqualities.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/louis-armstrong_master-of-modernism.jpg?w=650

You gotta hear this — original metal "mother" of "Ain't Misbehavin'" from 1929. Sounds glorious. Not sure if you can't buy it anywhere.
http://www.openculture.com/2016/04/the-cleanest-recordings-of-1920s-louis-armstrong-songs-youll-ever-hear.html

very cool

damn these really do sound amazing!

Omg

his home/museum in Corona, Queens is a must-visit btw.

yeah i gotta make it out there next time i'm in nyc

but seriously, these "metal mother" transfers ... are there more to come? can't get over how alive they sound.

Here’s the word from Nick Dellow, who supplied the transfer of both songs, as posted on YouTube:

There are still metals parts for pre-war Victor, Columbia and OKeh (from 1926) 78 rpm recordings residing within Sony's vaults in New York, though I have no idea exactly how much is left - probably more than one might think. Very occasionally, they are used as the source material for CD reissues, but the results vary! The 1952 date on the Odeon cover is probably the date the metal mother was deleted, as by then Odeon - in line with everyone else - had started to move over to 45 rpm and 33 rpm microgroove. 78s were issued up until the late 1950s in Europe and the USA, depending on the artist and sales levels....and were still being pressed in India in the early 1960s (including The Beatles early EMI singles). Thanks to everyone for their comments about my transfers and restoration work on these metal mothers.

I've been living with the columbia hot 5s & 7s for over 20 years now. Never even thought to look for better remasters. Along with the 60s Stones, those are my favorite recordings of all-time.
"metal mothers" do sound great. Can't wait to play them on some nice speakers. I hope there's more to come. After reading this thread, I'm really torn about checking the JSP collection.

Louis Jordan >>>>>>>> Louis Armstrong

Man, that's a ranking I can't make, love them both dearly. Add in Prima for the three Louies.

Oh man, I want this Bear Family Louis Prima box really badly.

I've been living with the columbia hot 5s & 7s for over 20 years now. Never even thought to look for better remasters.
Columbia did finally get its act together and released a decent-sounding set at one point. Depends on what release you own. I would suggest checking out the JSPs anyway.

This might be helpful.
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/louis-armstrong-hot-fives-and-sevens-the-best-one.47579/

yes, thanks for that. I have a couple JSP boxes that I was very happy with. I have a 20s New Orleans various, and I have the '26-'29 Ellington.
Now that I've checked out their catalogue, I think I would like 15-20 more. At that price I can't go wrong checking it out. I can always sell the version I like least.

via JCLC

Thanks to a $2.7 million grant from Robert F. Smith’s Fund II Foundation, The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, NY is digitizing thousands of valuable artifacts of the late jazz legend, including photographs, letters, audio, newspaper clippings, video, personal papers, sheet music and scrapbooks. Soon, these newly resurfaced artifacts will be available online through the The Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Research Collections. Deluxe Media Recall made the move to digitize the collection to make Armstrong’s living legacy readily available to fans worldwide.

The collection will include a scrapbook compilation of Armstrong’s early days in New York, hundreds of hours of never-before-heard concert recordings, spoken word tapes, video concert footage and photographs of the trumpeter in his Queens home.

http://www.offbeat.com/news/louis-armstrong-house-museum/

The JSP 1930-32 big band set is also great. I actually prefer it to the Hot 5s and 7s.

the digital trove

https://collections.louisarmstronghouse.org/

So the NY Times article on this mentions reel-to-reel mixtapes Armstrong loved to make, jumping from opera to his Hot Fives shellac to Charlie Parker to the Beatles, sometimes injected with his commentary. Are those up there? 'Cause man would I like to hear them.

I haven't dug in yet but the article sure made it sound like they digitized everything

https://www.wbgo.org/post/deep-dive-putting-louis-armstrong-context#stream/0

every single move here is mad genius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUcQESVYlec