20 tracks from the Decca years..and Louis saves the music

Louis Armstrong recorded twenty tracks on Decca Records between October 1935 and February 1936, showing how he evolved from his fast-paced Dixieland days of the 1920's. No, he survived the imitators and the material here is more melodic, with more improvs, and that gravelly, good-natured voice of his. The songs here are more short versions of pop tunes from Broadway and the movies, and I envision scenes of couples in tuxes and dresses dancing on the floor as in those old 30's movie musicals.

Here are some highlights. The standard "I'm In The Mood For Love" is one of the leisurely movie-like numbers.

The one tune I'm familiar with, "La Cucaracha" sports clarinets, pianos, and Mexican-style percussion in the instrumental intro before Louis starts singing and doing a good improv towards the end.

The connection between looking one's best with having a brand new girl is demonstrated in the catchy "Got A Bran' New Suit." Not too much of a mindset now, but this is a time capsule of the 30's after all. "I've Got My Fingers Crossed" has a similar theme, of having a girl who's too good to be true.

Both takes of "Old Man Mose" veers towards the swing sound, though not as quick. But it's distinctive because of that nevertheless. The takes here are Take A and E. The difference is that Take E has a distinctive piano and trumpet solo at the beginning.

There are two takes of Duke Ellington's reflective song of loneliness, "Solitude" here, which sports a great trumpet improv, and does he hit those high notes towards the end. The difference seems to be the way he sings.

The engaging "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music" is one of the highlights and the answer to the title would be a definite yes. There are a couple of solos, by tenor saxophonist Greely Walton, trombonist James Archey, and pianist Luis Russell, where they swing one for "Old Gabe" on cue from Louis. His voice sounds very Cookie Monster-ish when he cues his bandmembers.

More upbeat is "The Music Goes Round And Round" and the engaging title track, where he sings of the ties between history and music, be it the American Revolution, Nero, Jericho, and even includes a burst of La Marseilles when he mentions the French.

As for "Yes! Yes! My! My!", catchy as the tune is, I wonder if most women today would be flattered with the sandwich analogy: "she's a hunk of heaven between two slices of happiness."

He covers Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket," an unwise philosophy, but a wise tune to do, as it sports his trademark trumpet blowing.

This was yet another CD used in my jazz/blues/rock class. I jotted down the UPC in my notebook and the rest is history.

Louis at his best (the songs aren't the most imaginative)

Armstrong's Decca recordings from the thirties are probably the least favoured in his career. Louis encountered at that time a problem which appeared also in Billie holiday's first recordings - the material was not always well chosen and not always worthy of him. On the other hand Decca's studio sound enables to fully enjoy his voice and trumpet as it comes much better than the best remastering of his twenties great period (as is presented in the 4 CD box of JSP). The best songs in this CD ("I'm putting all my eggs in one basket", "I've got my fingers crossed", two takes of "solitude" and a few other good ones) make this probably the best compilation from that time.

Still My Favorite

When I got bored with rock, I bought this cd. This helped me discover the genius of Satchmo and the wonder of Jazz. Years later I still haven't got tired of this cd. If the songs aren't that great then Satchmo is even better than I thought, because all the songs sound wonderfull.