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For many Armstrong is the pinnacle of Jazz. However, I've never really gotten at a visceral level his music. This is from someone who loves Lester Young, Ellington, Charlie Christian, etc.
Do you love Armstrong's music? What are some quintessential recordings to listen to?
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06-21-2025 11:54 AM
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For me it’s the hot fives and sevens. But the his music is a little further back than the swing era and the style is different.
Originally Posted by charlieparker
This is an era when jazz was played straight and in 2, harking back to its march origins. So you won’t find much of that smoother laid back sound that became such a thing in the Kansas City style which Lester and Charle Christian played.
Louis was of course also highly active during the swing era. His rhythm sections changed too.
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I second the Hot Fives & Sevens.
Tunes like the following I always listen to, (and not because the weather here is so hot and humid right now!)
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Seems apt
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I became interested in his early recordings in the late 1970's after listening to a BBC Radio programme, I was a young teenager and couldn't have a trumpet as well as a bike, so I made trumpet noises with my mouth instead.
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I’m partial to the stuff he did with Oscar Peterson after hearing this podcast.
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This is the furthest thing from a hip choice, but the band's groove on Mac The Knife is incredible. And, What A Wonderful World is still heard for a good reason.
If you listen to Louis Prima and then you go back to Louis Armstrong, you'll hear where Prima got his style.
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Why would you need help liking Louis Armstrong? :P
Sleepy Time Down South at the start of their concerts is my favorite. His bands sound great to me. It's an early jazz sound, but I don't think it's that dated. Great groove, great improv and melody, and Billie Kyle is a killin pianist, like a Teddy Wilson.
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Here's a cute clip if you haven't seen it. Louis is certainly a good player by any standard I think.
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Watch High Society
Last edited by Alder Statesman; 06-22-2025 at 06:22 PM.
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This is one of my favorites, it has the banjo playing rhythm and lead guitar by Lonnie Johnson. Lonnie's licks are super bluesy and swinging, I think that kind of style was ahead of his time. I had to practice this piece for a concert, and I'm glad I discovered Lonnie he's one of my favs now. Originally Posted by James W
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Armstrong actually pretty much IS the pinnacle of jazz. His voice, and his horn make him more unmistakable than all the rest which makes him preeminent among other jazz greats.
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Pierre Boulez considered that the flute introduction to Debussy's Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faun heralded the birth of modern classical music. I feel that Louis Armstrong's opening trumpet cadenza for West End Blues holds a similar place for modern jazz improvisation. Gunther Schuller wrote that "the clarion call of West End Blues served notice that jazz had the potential capacity to compete with the highest order of previously known musical expression".
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Those are the two Louis records from the post war era that seem to the most popular with the musicians I know. And with good reason Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Aside from a few things over the years, mostly in old films, I hadn’t paid much attention to his work.
When his rendition of St. James Infirmary turned up in a cinema lecture in Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, I noticed that my Gen Z students really loved his playing! So now I also play What a Wonderful World for students (the version prefaced by his message of hope to young people), and they love that, too!
So this thread is timely for me and I’ll check suggested cuts. Thanks!
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That's what I came here to say after reading the thread title LOL Originally Posted by Strat-itis
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Yeah West End Blues sounds great. Then you go back and listen to (what little there is of) what King Oliver and the like were doing at the time and it’s like …. Ooooohhhh I get it now. Originally Posted by PMB
Definitely a sea change.
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His recordings with Ella Fitzgerald are very accessible. I used to listen to them a lot. Compare their Porgy and Bess record to Miles‘.
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And then you go and listen to all the Buddy Bolden recordings. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
Last edited by Christian Miller; 06-22-2025 at 11:27 AM.
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I think you’re being a silly goose. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Well, this may get me crucified but I don't like some his more famous tracks that mich like, "It's a Wonderful World", a little too sentimental for my tastes. Originally Posted by ruger9
Billie Holliday is more my speed. The Hot Five stuff people posted here was great.
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^ Well noone's forcing you to like what a wonderful world. That can get old. There's great depth to his recordings. It's good feeling, melodic, old timey stuff, but not too antiquated. But you're still not obligated to like it. But I think most jazz fans would like it if they just got into the breadth of it and got past the hits.
Hehe Originally Posted by ruger9
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Yeah it’s fine. The stuff most people have heard isn’t the stuff that was most influential to American music. Originally Posted by charlieparker
No reason you need to love listening to Louis, but getting into some of that earlier stuff so you can get a sense of his importance is rewarding.
Sort of like Robert Johnson. Doesn’t have to be your cup of tea, but hearing him in context is still cool .
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Q: Do you love Armstrong's music?
A: Oh-yeeeah
Q: Help me appreciate ...
A: Sure, first learn to relax and free yourself of any prejudice. Then sit back, close you eyes and listen to some Louis Armstrong singing and playing. Feel his timing and phrasing and experience how it makes the music alive, expressive and present.
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