Dixieland Music

At the times I'm writing this, the album still seems to be available on the British version of the Amazon (although the price is anything but low)...
Well then:

Whether it's a dixieland warhorse such as "Tiger Rag" or "Tin Roof Blues" or standards like "All of me" or "Undecided", this group is really swinging, jubilant, absolutely brilliant, with hot ensembles and great individual features.

Armstrong's incandecent trumpet was still at (or darn near) its peak in the mid-50s when this album was recorded and his vocal chops were as flexible and as expressive as they ever were or would be (check out "All of me"...)...
Many of these tunes go back to Hot Fives and Hot Seven dates with Satchmo, so it's quite interesting to listen to these new version of "12th Street Rag" (at least equal to the the old one; with Billy Kyle's "retro" playing far more swinging than Lil Hardin's ever could be, with Deems, Young and Hall quite capable of filling their predecessor shoes). As for "West end Blues"... Well, don't take my word for it - check out for your self whether I'm right when I say it's magnificent and quite comparable to the historical version...

This album is a brilliant way to approach Armstrong's art; in addition to other laudatitons, the song choice is also excellent; except for the "Faitfull Hussar", all the songs are proven jazz-standards.

This is, without any doubt one of the best Jazz Records ever recorded Live!
Taken from different live shows in the mid 50's. Featuring the best Armstrong All Stars: Edmond Hall-clarinet, Trummy Young-trombone, Billy Kyle-piano, Barrett Deems-drums, Arvell Shaw-bass.
The band at their hight and Armstrong's trumpet playing clean, effortlessly, very powerful and intense. An intensity he would only have through the late 40's and 50's. He would never play the same in years after that line up had changed (in terms of intensity). Another Record that pulls even is called "Satchmo The Great" also the same All Star Line up and quite a few rare and outstanding interviews with Armstrong himself.
"Ambassador Satch" also contains the best Tiger Rag version ever put to record!
J.S.

Fans of Louis Armstrong and/or Trummy Young, both of whom are heard in in fine form here, will certainly enjoy this release. (The rest of the ensemble is fine, but suffers by comparison--as well as by being drowned out by an enthusiastic audience on some of the livelier numbers.) Billed as "European Concert Recordings" from 1955, four of the thirteen tracks were actually recorded in Hollywood in 1956. Nevertheless, the result is a coherent album that seems to convey the excitement of seeing these masterful musicians in person.

The folks at Columbia seem to have done their usual competent job with this CD reissue, preserving George Avakian's original liner notes and presenting full (and corrected) details of the recordings. While not as ambitious an undertaking as, say, Ellington At Newport 1956, the sound quality is good for a recording from this period and the result is quite listenable.

Waited a long time to get this CD to replace my old LP album.
Simply great to listen to. The musicians are having a great time, the crowd is responding. Nothing like live recording when you can get it, and I have quite a few live recordings of Armstrong. This is a must for your collection. The added bonus tracks are good but do not match the bouncing sound of the live recordings.

I think it is great that this is on CD, so maybe some more folks can discover it. Yes, Louis' two CDs (LPs) "Plays...Handy, Fats", are great recordings, but this takes a back seat to nothing. Satch Live, especially with Edmund Hall, (and Barrett Deems shows what he's all about on this one) and the rest of the All-Stars is pure Magic. The bonus tracks may be nice for some...me, I'll keep playing my third LP copy...

Wow - I must have bought the last copy Amazon had --- only 3rd party sellers are listed as of today.

These performances of Armstrong and his band are absolutely ripping hot. Royal Garden Blues sounds like straight-ahead jazz. But sound-wise, it's got deficiencies. By 1955, the sound quality of studio stereo and 3 track recordings already exceeded in definition what Redbook CD's can deliver (as witnessed by the glorious tonal quality of the RCA Living Stereo reissues on SACD, and Satch's SACD, "Ella and Louis"). However the equipment they used for these live recordings was not state of the art studio. In fact, although the disk says "Stereo", these are all monophonic tracks. The hiss isn't too bad, and the high frequency roll off not too bothersome, but the worst aspect is that, when the brass really get sizzling, you hear clipping distortion, sounding like Toscanini's 1950s recordings. The 3 bonus tracks, though, have much less clipping. So, the SACD won't give you more than you can get on the CD reissue --- which is also out of print. But Amazon offers MP3 downloads. All in all, this SACD makes for an enjoyable experience, but not a time machine to take you back to Satchmo live.

After reading the previous reviews I was hesitant to purchase this recording. I decided to do so despite warnings about noise that supposedly made it an inferior recording. Boy, was I glad that I did. The clarity of the disc is much better than I expected and the music is positively wonderful!!! If you are a fan of "Pops" or just a fan of great Jazz, pick up a copy of this SACD. Unless you expect unreasonable perfection from a recording made prior to the digital age, you won't be sorry.

No comment on the recording itself - since I haven't heard it.

The best way to offer a old recording is straight - hiss and all. To "clean up" a recording - digitally or otherwise - is to harm it - even with today's technology. To remove the hiss is to remove the harmonics - which is what gives a live recording it's liveness.

Armstrong fans will appreciate the joyfull exuberance of these live european recordings. Audiophiles will cringe at the SACD treatment of this album. Analog tape hiss from the original recordings is faithfully reproduced on the SACD treatment and on quiet passages, the tape hiss is overwhelming and distracting. With the premium cost of SACD recordings, I think Columbia could have digitally cleaned this recording up before releasing it. Worth adding as a Jazz album, not worth adding as an SACD demo.

This video contains a couple of good numbers by Al Hirt, along with an older version of the Bob Crosby Bobcats, doing "March of the Bobcats" and a version of "Big Noise from Winnetka". Crosby, now white-headed, leads the band, but the only stalward from his original group is tenor sax great, Eddie Miller. Scatman Crothers is also featured, and a composite Dixieland group. It's in color and displays variety of musicianship, but isn't the greatest example of Dixieland around.