Performance, 5 -- Editing, 2

The song combination is to die for: there's a nice mix of pop and dixieland hits attributed to the man. But trouble soon began for me when the recording editor snipped out the final A and the solo section of the first tune, "A Kiss to Build a Dream On". Whoa! What was that all about?!!! After listing to the whole record I was utterly disappointed: for the performance, I gave it a 5 but I gave the editing a miserable 2 or 1.

On the plus side, this record highlights 30 years of Louis and his all star/big band with a surprise appearance of Ella Fitzgerald on "Dream a Little Dream of Me." The negative side here is not in the quality of the source tapes but in the precociousness of the recording editor. Along with the hachet job done on "Kiss," the editor chose to feature a minute or so of three other songs before fading them out into nothingness. Apparently, he wanted us to hear a summary rather than a survey of Louis's live legacy. (CUSTOMER TO EDITOR: Let the music play on a little while!) To C'est Si Bon's credit, the few minutes the editor allows us to hear are purely vintage Satchmo. Most of the performances feature Satch in his waning years, but Armstrong still manages to surprise and entertain.

I'll keep this to round out my collection, but I'd probably look elsewhere for more satisfying performances of Dippermouth. If you DO buy this product, cherish the man's genius--listen hard, before the editor pulls you away with more irritating "fade outs."