Dixieland Music

I'll make this review short. If you're going to make a Louis Armstrong compilation, at least remaster the audio. Sure, there are going to be a few record pops and crackles here and there, but that doesn't bother me. But this set does. Something you should note is that most of this disc is a live recording, if not all of it. And the sound quality is terrible. So why buy this? Go buy 'Falling in Love with Louis Armstrong,' 'Ken Burns JAZZ,' or if you want the latter day Louis on Decca, 'All-Time Greatest Hits.' But do not buy 'Golden Legends.'

NOT RECOMMENDED.

Though I purchased the CD as a gift, I did take the time to listen to excerpts from the CD on another site, so I knew what I was getting before hand. I really enjoy this music. It's peppy, inspiring and camp. It also has a sort of tongue in cheek quality about it. Keely Smith is one of the best vocalists of not only hers; but all time.

I had never even heard of Al Hirt before until I heard one of the songs from this album on the radio one day and made the effort to track this one down -- and boy am I glad I did!

Al Hirt was a New Orleans trumpeter known mainly for his Dixieland recordings. But on this mid-60s Christmas album, he takes things in a zanier direction with an unbridled and exuberant take on a lot of Christmas standards.

The result is a great light-hearted and fun instrumental Christmas album that'll have you dancing around the house. Especially if you have kids, I think they will really enjoy it.

It comes from the same magical and innocent era as Rudolph and the other Rankin & Bass Christmas specials, and has the same sort of carefree and unjaded spirit of pure enjoyment of the season to it.

But I have compared this CD with the original vinyl release, 1965's "The Sound of Christmas", and was disappointed to find that for some inexplicable reason the makers of this CD have chosen to leave off a full 5 more tracks that were on the original album. WHY???

This makes this present release seem exceedingly brief. The first 5 songs on the CD are the real highlight, and then things quieten down for the remaining 4 tracks which are pretty much your standard Christmas music fare. Still, I love those first 5 songs so much that I can't help but give this CD a full 5 stars.

But I do hope that someday this classic Christmas album will be re-released on CD with ALL the tracks from the 1965 album included. Till then, this will just have to do.

I didn't realize just how much this CD meant Christmas to me until I got it last year. My parents had the record (you know, the round things that had music on them before the days of the CD), and I listened to it every year growing up. I stumbled across it and decided to buy it. From the opening note I was transported to Christmases past as a kid waiting for Santa to come.

The CD opens with a version of "Jingle Bells" that lives up to its name - it truly is nutty. But I love it. The rest of the CD is more traditional arrangements of Christmas classics in a Dixieland style. Mr. Hirt is backed up by an orchestra and occasionally helped by a small choir. While the first six songs are upbeat toe tappers, the last three slow it down. Still, the trumpet playing shines through loud and clear. I don't normally listen to instrumental music of any kind, but I just didn't know you could do some of that stuff with a trumpet.

With only 9 tracks, it's a bit short, especially by today's standards. Still, I'm glad I reconnected with this classic from my childhood. If you enjoy jazz, this CD will thrill you.

My fondest memories as a child were listening to my dad play his trumpet along with Al Hirt. Particulary special were those Christmas Eves when he would play Al's beautiful rendition of Silver Bells, O Holy Night, and Silent Night. If your an Al Hirt fan, this album is a must. As always, he is the master of delightful yet tasteful improvosation.

This CD is a great idea for introducing Jazz styles especially for study in an academic setting, but it can be a little frustrating to really like one of the songs, only to have it fade away moments later when the excerpt time is up (30 seconds to 1 minute). A lot of these songs are not that long to begin with, it might have been better to include the whole song and fewer of them.

This CD has 66 different tracks with between 30 seconds and 1 minute of each song. Each track gives you enough of an introduction to each song so that you would recognize it if you heard it again.

The selection of songs is very representative of the variety of musical styles under the umbrella of "jazz."

I'd highly recommend this for a music appreciation class or for someone who wants to experience jazz to see if you like it and which artists you might be intrested in hearing more of.