Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

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To most, Louis Armstrong is just another iconographic Mount Rushmore figure from the distant past -- a patriarch of jazz, a great American cultural ambassador, blah blah blah. Some remember him as that hammy, happily growling presence singing "Hello, Dolly!" Or the cartoonish quipster mugging wide-eyed in some bad movie. But decades before he became a popular entertainer, he'd already made a major contribution as the first true jazz soloist -- an adventurous soul whose musical inquisitiveness and enormous technical skills single-handedly formed the template upon which all small-group jazz improvisation would be built. The recordings on this four-disc collection -- which is far more exhaustively researched than previous reissues of this material -- document the crucial early steps of Armstrong's journey. They start with the fidgety small-group sides from 1925, Armstrong's first work as a bandleader, then roll through some of the trumpeter's more famous blues animations (including the incandescent "Struttin' With Some Barbeque") and the eleven recordings made with tuba and drums in 1927 that would be called the Hot Seven (classics like "Potato Head Blues"). Also included: recordings of the period in which Armstrong served as a sideman and his historic "Weather Bird" duet with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines. What can the cyberworld learn from these Armstrong treasures, which, though cleaned up, do still sound like they were made in the Twenties? There's his knack for generating soaring melodies (check out how "Come Back, Sweet Papa" perks up when Satchmo begins to solo), his ability to make his enthusiasm for everything he played feel contagious and, most of all, the order in which he got things done: He learned how to play before he turned on the charm.

TOM MOON

(Posted: Aug 22, 2000)

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Track List

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Gut Bucket Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
My Heart (track not available in Rhapsody)
Yes! I'm In The Barrel (track not available in Rhapsody)
Come Back, Sweet Papa (track not available in Rhapsody)
Georgia Grind (track not available in Rhapsody)
Heebie Jeebies (track not available in Rhapsody)
Cornet Chop Suey
Oriental Strut (track not available in Rhapsody)
You're Next (track not available in Rhapsody)
Muskrat Ramble (track not available in Rhapsody)
Don't Forget To Mess Around
I'm Gonna Gitcha
Droppin' Shucks (track not available in Rhapsody)
Who' Sit (track not available in Rhapsody)
King Of The Zulus (track not available in Rhapsody)
Big Fat Ma And Skinny Pa (track not available in Rhapsody)
Lonesome Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Sweet Little Papa (track not available in Rhapsody)
Jazz Lips
Skid-Dat-De-Dat (track not available in Rhapsody)
Big Butter And Egg Man (track not available in Rhapsody)
Sunset Cafe Stomp (track not available in Rhapsody)
You Made Me Love You (track not available in Rhapsody)
Irish Black Bottom (track not available in Rhapsody)
Pause Track (track not available in Rhapsody)
Put 'Em Down Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Ory's Creole Trombone (track not available in Rhapsody)
The Last Time (track not available in Rhapsody)
Struttin' With Some Barbecue
Got No Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Once In A While (track not available in Rhapsody)
I'm Not Rough
Hotter Than That
Savoy Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
He Likes It Slow (track not available in Rhapsody)
Gambler's Dream (track not available in Rhapsody)
Sunshine Baby (track not available in Rhapsody)
Adam And Eve Had The Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Put It Where I Can Get It (track not available in Rhapsody)
Wash Woman Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
I've Stoppped My Man (track not available in Rhapsody)
Georgia Bo Bo (track not available in Rhapsody)
Drop That Sack - (common take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Cornet Chop Suey - (In E Flat) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Cornet Chop Suey - (In E Flat) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Pause Track (track not available in Rhapsody)
Willie The Weeper (track not available in Rhapsody)
Wild Man Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Alligator Crawl (track not available in Rhapsody)
Potato Head Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Melancholy Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Weary Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Twelfth Street Rag (track not available in Rhapsody)
Keyhole Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
S. O. L. Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Gully Low Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
That's When I'll Come Back To You (track not available in Rhapsody)
Chicago Breakdown
Weary Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
New Orleans Stomp (track not available in Rhapsody)
Wild Man Blues - (common take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Wild Man Blues - (rare take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Melancholy - (common take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Melancholy - (rare take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
You're A Real Sweetheart (track not available in Rhapsody)
Too Busy (track not available in Rhapsody)
Was It A Dream? (track not available in Rhapsody)
Last Night I Dreamed You Kissed Me (track not available in Rhapsody)
Pause Track (track not available in Rhapsody)
Fireworks
Skip The Gutter (track not available in Rhapsody)
A Monday Date (track not available in Rhapsody)
Don't Jive Me (track not available in Rhapsody)
West End Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
Sugar Foot Strut (track not available in Rhapsody)
Two Deuces (track not available in Rhapsody)
Squeeze Me (track not available in Rhapsody)
Knee Drops
No (No Papa, No) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Basin Street Blues (track not available in Rhapsody)
No One Else But You (track not available in Rhapsody)
Beau Koo Jack (track not available in Rhapsody)
Save It, Pretty Mama
Muggles (track not available in Rhapsody)
Hear Me Talkin' To Ya (track not available in Rhapsody)
St. James Infirmary (track not available in Rhapsody)
Tight Like This
Weather Bird (track not available in Rhapsody)
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
I Can't Give You Anything But Love - (alternate take) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Mahogany Hall Stomp (track not available in Rhapsody)
Knockin' A Jug (track not available in Rhapsody)
Pause Track (track not available in Rhapsody)