Volume 1: Hot Fives
click the image to get it in cd-cover size
| Release Date: |
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| Label: |
Sony |
| Rating: |
4.5 |
Description: Fact: Some seventy years ago, Louis Armstrong was bigger than the Beatles. Fact: Louis' record sales provided the seed money for some of today's great communications empires. Fact: Pops' startling trumpet prowess and ingratiating vocals transformed the phrasing of every instrumentalist and vocalist on earth--and these are the sessions that started it all. Having performed as the second cornet with spiritual father Joe "King" Oliver's legendary New Orleans band, he turned everybody's head in New York during his stint with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in 1924. Then at wife Lil Hardin's insistence, he returned to Chicago in 1925, which led to the first of his supersessions for the Okeh label--fronting an all-star band assembled just for the studio. Even amid the traditional New Orleans polyphony and ensemble work of "Gut Bucket Blues," the sheer power of Armstrong's cornet pulls along the rest of the band like a locomotive (and in setting the infectious closing riff, he not only anticipates the swing era but Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts"). By the time we get to the 1926 sessions, featuring his innovative "scat singing" on "Heebie Jeebies" and his dynamic stop-time phrases on "Cornet Chop Suey," Louis Armstrong is well on his way to transforming jazz into a soloist's art, and himself into the most influential musician of the 20th century.
--Chip Stern
Tracklist of Volume 1: Hot Fives
Reviews:
Fun fun FUN!
Yeah, audiophiles won't dig the sound (hey, this was the 20s, remember?). But if you get past that, this CD is full of FUN! "Heebie Jeebies" was quite influential in it's day, today it's a good way to make you smile. "Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa" sounds like the soundtrack to a late 20s-early 30s cartoon. One can easily imagine the goings-on that this tune desribes (as is also the case with "Georgia Grind." Satch's first recorded vocal, "Gut Bucket Blues" where he enthusiastically cheers his comrades on, reminds you of the "shout outs" on modern rap songs. "You're Next" is an uncharacteristically moody piece from this era, with an interesting classical piano intro from Lil Armstrong. So DAMN the poor sound. Imagine that grandpa and grandma are crankin' up the old victrola and have a ball!
The Crown Prince Grows Up
This superb set captures Armstrong at a critical point in his artistic evolution,-having served his apprenticeship in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in 1923,he first lit a fire at the trumpet chair in Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra the following year and then he played and recorded with small combos with the likes of Sidney Bechet and Clarence Williams and now in 1925 he leads his own combo of all-stars.There is nothing negative to be said about this CD,unless you wish to quibble over the sound,which is low-fi compared to more recent releases in box sets but I much prefer the warmer,rounder tone of this CD;in a similar vein,there is nothing negative to say about the MUSIC on this CD either - this is prime classic jazz at its very finest,from the polyphonic brilliance of "My Heart" to the darting playfulness of "Big Fat Ma And Skinny Pa" and "King Of The Zulus",here was a major musical genius just beginning to stretch his legs.An essential buy,darn the sound quality its perfectly great sounding on my player!
Truly an Essential!
Get over the bad sound quality and you're going to love this album. This is Louis at his best. I prefer his earlier works to his later ones because they seem more lively, but that is just my opinion. Even if you like later works better, there's still no reason you shouldn't buy this album. Its got the first good scat recording on "Heebie Jeebies", which is a riot to listen to, and a host of other hilarious songs. Not a very serious, heartfelt album, but that's why I love it. If you have a preconceived image of Louie as singing only loving soft jazz songs such as "What a Wonderful World", I suggest you listen to this album, because it has nothing like that. What it does have is wild dance songs such as "Oriental Strut" and one crazy tune with Jamaican voice-overs, "King of the Zulus". A truly wonderful album and an essential for all lovers of early jazz.
