Customer Reviews
Fantastic - By: Mr. M. D. Brocket, 15 Oct 2008 
I bought this on the basis of the reviews & was knocked out by the album.Surely it must rank amongst the very best Louis Armstrong albums.Captivating from start to finish & the music quality is as fresh as tomorrow. Simply can't beleive the price, please don't let it put you off it is worth far far more.
One of my favourite albums... - By: Nikica Gilic, 01 Jun 2008 What a magnificent CD!
I heard this album in the LP form at the beginnings of my explorations into jazz but, as the CD era started, I was warned that the 80's CD of "Armstrong plays W. C. Handy" contains inferior alternate versions.
The producer George Avakian explains in this 1997 CD what happened & how painstaking & meticolous research & restoration resulted in this issue, basicallly equalll to the original album, although the recording company had lost not only masters but the back-up copies as well. So, alll the compliments go to Mr. Avakian, the producer & the restorer of this music.
This is one of my favorite jazz albums & I feel it proves that Louis in the 50's could very well reach his Hot fives & Hot seven hights. Whether it is "Loveless love", "Chantez les-bas" or the ingenious & rightly famous "St. Louis Blues", Satchmo shines both through the clear sound of his trumpet & through the expressive groan & grumble of his vocal chords (how do such divine voices come about? Did he work on it or was it a gift?).
His accompanying ensemble is also great, particularly the explosive trombonist Trummy Young, who was rightly famous for his work in Lunceford's big band in the swing era, but seems liberated in Satchmo's All-stars concept - he propelles ensemble choruses & plays inspiring solos (Bigard is also great but his best work was done in the swing era with Ellington).
It is quite amazing that critics in the 50's didn't take Satchmo seriously enough but so it goes with music, cinema or anything else: Artists who still develops their concept when younger cats follow completely different leaders often go unnoticed. Fortunatelly, Armstrong was able to attract some of the non-jazz crowd & become popular entertainer, so he had a great amount of artistic liberty.
Additional attractions of this seminal album are rehearsing sequences & short interviews with Satchmo & W. C. Handy.
a classic recording date that will never age - By: Mr. D. Burrell, 19 Jun 2007 This is quite simply one of the best recordings I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I have heard many LPs over the years but this is fantastic, the quality of the recordings is matched by the wonderful playing & singing. The atmosphere is stunning & illustrates what is missing from today's music - performance, energy & humour. Also equallly worth checking out is Satchmo's tribute to Fats walller, both albums are absolute classics!!!
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW and......... WOW - By: S. Shepherd, 26 Mar 2007 SPECTACULAR .... a friend put me on to this a few years back & if you reallly want to hear the best classic RnB then this is for you! Fan or no fan this reallly is one amazing album & i can honestly say it has changed my mindset into what maybe i should be listening to on a lazy sunday. Why there are only 3 reveiws on here i do not know.? i dont normallly write them but like i said dont question it just buy it & expand your mind on how real music was made with real people.
If you only buy one classic jazz album, buy this! - By: Mr. A. J. Frost, 27 Nov 2001 Being relatively new to Jazz myself, the choice of Jazz albums seems staggering, even the number of Louis Armstrong CD's is daunting - but this is one of the best there is (the rather damning Penguin Jazz Guide review is based on an early reissue, this version of the original masters is worthy of a full 5 stars). The music is classic Armstrong playing combined with perfect Handy blues. If this CD inspires you (and at this price its got to be worth it), then try the Hot 5's & 7's box set for another taste of Armstrongs awesome vocal & musical abilities
