Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives and Sevens (1998)

This four disc set is indispensable to any serious jazz collection. It includes all Armstrong's classic Hot Five performances with Kid Ory, Johnny Dodds, Johnny St. Cyr and Lil Armstrong, his Hot Seven recordings, and his magnificent partnership with Earl Hines. This is some of the most important and influential jazz every recorded, marking the way ahead away from New Orleans style polyphony to the future dominance of the soloist. The last of these discs is the least essential, as Armstrong returned to commercial big band recordings, where he is often head and shoulders above both his colleagues and his material.
There is so much to savour on these discs: Louis is superlative throughout this set - hear "Cornet Chop Suey" "Potato Head Blues" and "West End Blues", in particular. Johnny Dodds is superb, incredibly impassioned on "Got No Blues" and elsewhere. The Hot Five swings like crazy on tunes like "Once in a While", and listen to "Skip the Gutter", "Muggles" and "Weatherbird" to hear one of the finest partnerships in jazz history, Armstrong and Hines. Hear also Lonnie Johnson's marvellous guitar playing at the end of the second disc. Louis' singing is heard regularly (and his slide - whistle playing once).
These CDs are also highly recommendable because of the quality of the remastering. The sound quality on the first disc in particular is better than in any other issue of these works, putting larger companies to shame.

01. My Heart
02. Yes! I'm in the Barrel
03. Gut Bucket Blues
04. Come Back, Sweet Papa
05. Georgia Grind
06. Heebie Jeebies
07. Cornet Chop Suey
08. Oriental Strut
09. You're Next
10. Muskrat Ramble
11. Don't Forget to Mess Around
12. I'm Gonna Gitcha
13. Dropping Shucks
14. Who' sit
15. He Likes It Slow
16. The King of the Zulus
17. Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa
18. Lonesome Blues
19. Sweet Little Papa
20. Jazz Lips
21. Skid-Dat-De-Dat
22. Big Butter and Egg Man from the West
23. Sunset Cafe Stomp
24. You Made Me Love You
25. Irish Black Bottom


01. Willie the Weeper
02. Wild Man Blues
03. Chicago Breakdown
04. Alligator Crawl
05. Potato Head Blues
06. Melancholy Blues
07. Weary Blues
08. Twelfth Street Rag
09. Keyhole Blues
10. S.O.L. Blues
11. Guilty Low Blues
12. That's When I'll Come Back To You
13. Put 'Em Down Blues
14. Ory's Creole Trombone
15. The Last Time
16. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
17. Got No Blues
18. Once in A While
19. I'm Not Rough
20. Hotter Than That
21. Savoy Blues


01. Fireworks
02. Skip The Gutter
03. A Monday Date
04. Don't Jive Me
05. West End Blues
06. Sugar Foot Strut
07. Two Deuces
08. Squeeze Me
09. Knee Drops
10. Symphonic Raps
11. Savoyagers' Stomp
12. No (No, Papa, No)
13. Basin Street Blues
14. No-One Else But You
15. Beau Koo Jack
16. Save It, Pretty Mama
17. Weather Bird
18. Muggles
19. Heah Me Talkin' To Ya
20. St. James Infirmary
21. Tight Like This
22. Knockin' A Jug


01. I Can't Give You Anything but Love
02. Mahogany Hall Stomp
03. Ain't Misbehavin'
04. (What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue
05. That Rhythm Man
06. Sweet Savannah Sue
07. Some Of These Days
08. Some of These Days
09. When You're Smiling
10. When You're Smiling
11. After You've Gone
12. I Ain't Got Nobody
13. Dallas Blues
14. St. Louis Blues
15. Rockin' Chair
16. Song Of The Islands
17. Bessie Couldn't Help It
18. Blue, Turning Grey Over You
19. Dear Old Southland
20. Rockin' Chair
21. I Can't Give You Anything But Love