iTunes 10 New Releases
Slash - Slash
Slash by Slash
Still Standing - Monica
Still Standing by Monica
Blah Blah Blah (JWeezy Remix) - Ke$ha
Blah Blah Blah (JWeezy Remix) by Ke$ha
Jumpin' Jack Flash (American Idol Guest Performance) - Single - David Cook
Jumpin' Jack Flash (American Idol Guest Performance) - Single by David Cook
Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA (Deluxe Version) - Dropkick Murphys
Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA (Deluxe Version) by Dropkick Murphys
Under Great White Northern Lights (Live) - The White Stripes
Under Great White Northern Lights (Live) by The White Stripes
Here I Am (Deluxe Version) - Marvin Sapp
Here I Am (Deluxe Version) by Marvin Sapp
The Big To-Do - Drive By Truckers
The Big To-Do by Drive By Truckers
Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA - Dropkick Murphys
Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA by Dropkick Murphys
Survival Story - Flobots
Survival Story by Flobots
| Disc 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On the Sunny Side of the Street | 3:25 | |
| 2 | That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) | 3:54 | |
| 3 | Gone Fishin' | 3:03 | |
| 4 | Kiss to Build a Dream On | 3:02 | |
| 5 | You Rascal You | 3:10 | |
| 6 | Vie en Rose | ||
| 7 | Blueberry Hill | 2:55 | |
| 8 | In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree | 2:20 | |
| 9 | Gypsy | ||
| 10 | Lazy River | 3:05 | |
| 11 | I Surrender, Dear - All-Stars | ||
| 12 | It's All in the Game | 3:22 | |
| 13 | When It's Sleepy Time Down South | 1:51 | |
The best track is probably the first, "Sunny Side of the Street." There are two big trumpet solos here, one at the beginning and one at the end -- and they are both magnificent. Please forgive me Wynton Marsalis, but I have always doubted Armstrong's techincal proficiency -- at least with regard to polish and note-perfect virtuosity -- but the man had musical cojones, no question about it. He steamrolls through this evergreen with his trumpet on full blast, in a kind of drunken swagger, knocking everyone else out of the water (listen to how he obliterates the trombone bit that precedes his second solo at the end of the song). I think that "swagger" in his trumpet lines is more or less the same thing as rubato, combined with lots of strategic note-slurring; anyway it sounds swell.
I also love the recording of "Lazy River," on which Louis groans and grumbles and mumbles in between singing the verses (I love it when he says "Modulate, daddy, modulate!" as the piano solo comes in). The funny thing is that a lot of the seemingly "improvised" mannerisms on this recording (all that stuff at the beginning, "talking" to the trombone -- "way down, way down, way down" etc.) are almost exactly the same as those on another version of the same song from over 20 years earlier. Apparently when Louis found something he liked, he stuck with it.
Lots of other good stuff here. The duet with Louis Jordan, "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You," is delightful. Ditto the lazy "Gone Fishing" with Bing Crosby ("I'm real gone, man"). This disc features the version of "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" that Nora Ephron used in "Sleepless In Seattle." Unfortunately not all of Louis' costars hold up well -- even the liner notes admit the chorus on "That Lucky Old Sun" is "unspeakable" (their words), and the Mills Brothers, backing up Satch on a 1930s recording of "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree," seem quite dated compared to Armstrong, however influential they may have been back in the day.
All in all, a good collection.