Dixieland Music

When I bought this CD I was a bit disapointed with Al Hirt's playing, and wondering that maybe he was not well. As we know he has passed on, and I have learned that this was one of his last performances. Now something that you may not know is that this CD was also recorded on video cassette and can be purchased. It is a pleasure to watch and see the charm, the humor and the warmth of someone I grew up listening to and respected so much of my life. God bless you Mr. Hirt.

I hesitate writing this review because I'm a big Al Hirt fan, but as a service to fellow fans and CD buyers I think it's only fair to say I was disappointed by this CD.

I recently pulled my copy of "Al Hirt's All Time Greatest Hits" CD off the shelf for a listen, and enjoyed it so much I decided it was time to expand my collection of this legendary player. Unfortunately his performance bears only a slight resemblance to his former greatness. While there are no accompanying liner notes(a bad sign), this CD was published in 1996, which I assume was close to the time it was recorded. Unlike his unforgetable performances from the 1960's, most tunes on this CD actually de-emphasize Al's playing due to an apparent lack of stamina and control. Again, it hardly seems fair to make statements like this considering Al is nearly 70 years of age, a full 35 years after he hit the scene as a technical master and interpreter of song. As a former trumpeter myself, I can fully appreciate the difficulty of maintaining your chops, which I assume is a losing battle once you enter your 60's-70's. This is especially true of players that tend to be very physical players, As proof, the same could be said of the late great Diz, and the still incredible, yet diminished Maynard.

So, if you're looking for a disk with more of the legendary Al Hirt in his prime, this isn't the CD for you. If you haven't got it yet, I my suggestion to you would be to buy a copy of the aforementioned "All-time Greatest Hists," which contains Al's most legendary performances from the '60's, when he was at his peak.

But if you're a fan regardless, and want an average dixie-land recording from an average band, the price of this "Live" collection certainly is right. Just understand up front what you're getting!

Without a doubt this was a fun and exciting time
in Armstrong's career, the music here is fantastic
and especially enjoyable for those who love the
early 1920s jazz. The sound is decent, but there
is one thing the listener should know: The recordings
are of live performances and almost every track is
formerly introduced by an announcer. There is a
charm to this, and we get a dash of banter between
Armstrong and the announcer, not to mention a nod to
the other musicians who play with Armstrong, but
'some' may find its repetiveness a bit distracting, though
to be fair, the chatting is quite brief.
For me, the music flows a bit better if you have 2 or
more disks playing on shuffle (to break up the somewhat
intrusive announcer). Listen to the Amazon samples
and you'll see what I mean; if you don't mind it,
go for it - the music is gold!

Louis Armstrong - Greatest Hits put out by RCA Victor gives us a solid assortment of numbers by the immortal Louis Armstrong. The sound quality is really rather good; and the artwork is excellent.

The track set opens with "Sugar" performed by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven band. The quality of the sound surprises me considering the age of the recording. Louis sings this to perfection and beyond; and his buddies play so well. I think "Sugar" makes a great starting track for this album. "St. Louis Blues" does have a bit of surface noise; but it doesn't interfere with the sound of the music. Louis wails out great and this number really jams! The trumpet playing Louis adds to "St. Louis Blues" really impresses me--but, then again, was there ever a time when Louis Armstrong disappointed anyone?

"I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" features some more great singing by the great Louis Armstrong; and the melody is beautiful. The brass enhances the number so well; and this number holds its own effortlessly. "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" is definitely a highlight of this CD. Listen also for "Ain't Misbehavin';" this W.C. Handy number sparkles like gold when Louis and his buddies perform this flawlessly. Together Louis and his band bat "Ain't Misbehavin'" straight out of the ballpark! It's an awesome number that I always liked because it's so playful.

"Mood Indigo" is a more recent recording that features Louis squarely in the spotlight--and this comes off without a hitch! There's a beautiful arrangement for the flute that rounds out the musical arrangement very nicely. I love how Louis sings those lyrics for "Mood Indigo."

"My One And Only Love" again places Louis in the spotlight; and the lush musical arrangement works wonders for this ballad. Louis delivers this love song with panache and it's a very memorable tune. The CD also ends very nicely with Louis on "What A Wonderful World." This rendition of "What a Wonderful World" has a spoken introduction; and this ballad was easily a huge hit for Louis in the later years of his career. It's a very sweet, optimistic ballad; and it leaves you wanting more. Don't be surprised if you find yourself pushing the "play" button on your CD player to listen to this one all over again!

Louis Armstrong fans will appreciate this album without any doubt; and people who like classic jazz vocals and even classic pop vocals will love this CD, too.

I bought this cd because I was looking for the best version of "West End Blues", and this one is definitely the best for me. I had the same one in a CD called "1 heure avec Louis Armstrong", which I lost and I wanted to have again. But I guess that CD is out of print because I have searched it over and over and never found it again. I simply adore this version of "West End Blues", it's really worth the price of the CD. It was recorded at a concert in Milan in 1955. The liner notes says it's an "exceptional performance", and you bet it is. Though it's not flawlessly recorded (lot's of applause at the beginning and at the end, like some other guy said in these reviews), you can appreciate a slower, better and more mature version than the one you can find on the majority of the other Satchmo's collections (I guess that one is from the 30's). His trumpet at its max, the trombone at its best, and the piano solo is simply taken out of heaven. This song reminds me of my childhood, my mom playing it over and over again in our old tape stereo. I can assure this song made me love jazz the way I do.

ALL TIME BEST OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG (aka Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits) includes the original KAPP singles of "Hello Dolly" and "What A Wonderful World." These and three other tracks come from the MCA archives. The other six songs here, CAPITOL recordings all, have Satchmo in tandem with Bing Crosby. Conspicuously missing are "Mack The Knife" and "A Kiss To Build A Dream On." A one-page bio rounds out this budget package, which has fine audio fidelity throughout.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 31:14

There are several Armstrong Greatest Hits albums and even an "All Time Greatest Hits", which I also own. Apparently some of the reviewers are confused because they are mentioning songs that aren't on this album. This one has 13 songs, which of course doesn't begin to cover all of Satchmo's hits, but compared to All Time Greatest Hits, which has 18 songs, I enjoyed this one much more. Never was a big fan of Armstrong; his unique voice takes some getting used to. In spite of that, I found this album very entertaining and do feel that it represents enough of his best hits to really get a feel for what he was all about. Anyone who appreciates good music should enjoy this album very much. I believe it was Armstrong when asked about differents kinds of music said: There are only two kinds: good and bad. Louis Armstrong definately performed the good kind of music. I particular enjoyed "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans". In the thousands of tracks of music that I own, it's the only vocal I have of that song and it's a good one.

I can't get too attached to any of the mountain of Louis Armstrong Greatest Hits packages, which all seem to feel a need to grab sides from all over his half-century+ long career, and this one isn't a whole lot better than the rest.

Armstrong plays great, as always, and the song selection is OK, if you're looking for familiar tunes. But none of his truly great stuff is here. These are live versions, and they aren't all well-recorded. "Cabaret," for instance, has some kind of synch problem that makes you feel as if someone is turning your bass/treble knob back and forth. On "Blueberry Hill" you can hear somebody mumbling at several points. Also, the producer evidently had never heard of that modern recording breakthrough, the VOLUME KNOB. If he had, he would have faded the tunes in and out, rather than going from dead silence to a roaring crowd in a split second, as he does on virtually every tune here.

"Muskrat Ramble," the oldest recording here, is the best performance, and the best recording, on the disk, though even it sounds like a copy of a copy of a copy of the original master recording.

By the way, the reviewer who complemented a version of ""Wonderful World" must have been referring to a different record. "Wonderful World" does not appear on this CD.