Born in New Orleans, trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
was the first big Jazz-star. He became interested in music early on and began playing the popular music of his hometown on cornet. Legendary trumpeter King Oliver gave Armstrong, who had gotten his first musical education at the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, some lessons. Brass bands were playing on the Mississippi steamers at the time and Armstrong soon landed a gig with the orchestra of Fate Marable, where he significantly expanded his technical skills and later was able to master even the most difficult scores.
After replacing King Oliver in Kid Ory’s band, he soon followed his teacher to Chicago, the Jazz center of the 1920s. Armstrong was one of the first musicians to emerge as a soloist from the collective improvisations of early Jazz with his own style and stretched out soloing. He celebrated his debut as a record artist with Kid Oliver in 1923. In New York, pianist Fletcher Henderson led the best African-American orchestra, to which Armstrong would belong in 1924 for a significant period of 14 months. In addition he recorded with the great blues singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Upon his return to Chicago, Armstrong began appearing with his first important bands Hot Five and Hot Seven, which included his wife Lil Harding – a rare interview with her about this period is included in this set and later Earl Hines as a pianist, resulting in many of his greatest recordings.
From the 1930s on, Armstrong was a world-acclaimed star trumpeter and singer who recorded successful records with a wide repertoire and mostly in big band accompaniment, appeared in many films and toured extensively around the world with his All Stars.
Some of the best and rarest albums by the Jazz superstar, incl. recordings available on CD for the first time.
CD 1
Muskrat Ramble
Heebie Jeebies
Gut Bucket Blues
Skid-Dat-De-Dat
Yes! I’m In The Barrel
Cornet Chop Suey
Struttin’ With Some Barbecue
I’m Not Rough
The Last Time
Got No Blues
Hotter Than That
Ory’s Creole Trombones
Potato Head Blues
Wild Man Blues
S.O.L. Blues
Gully Low Blues
Melancholy Blues
Weary Blues
Twelfth Street Rag
Willie The Weeper
Keyhole Blues
That’s When I’ll Come Back To You
Alligator Crawl
Chicago Breakdown
Basin Street Blues
CD 2
Weather Bird
No, Papa, No
Muggles
St. James Infirmary
Tight Like This
West End Blues
Skip The Gutter
Two Deuces
Sugar Foot Strut
Squeeze Me
Don’t Jive Me
Learning The Piano
Early Life In Chicago
With The New Orleans Creole Jazz Band
King Oliver Appears On The Scene . . . With Louis
First Recording Date
Courtship
The Young Louis
Marriage
First Trumpet, At Last,
With Fletcher Henderson In New York
The Hot Five
Return To New Orleans
The End Of A Marriage
Epilogue
CD 3
Dipper Mouth Blues
Canal Street Blues
High Society
All The Wrongs You’ve Done To Me
Everybody Loves My Baby
Mandy Make Up Your Mind
See See Rider
Reckless Blues
Court House Blues
Trouble In Min
New Orleans Function: (A) Flee As A Bird (B) Oh, Didn’t He Ramble
Gut Bucket Blues
Cornet Chop Suey
Heebie Jeebies
Georgia Grind
Muskrat Ramble
King Of The Zulus
Snag It
Wild Man Blues
CD 4
Potato Head Blues
Weary Blues
Gully Low Blues
Struttin’ With Some Barbeque
Hotter Than That
Two Deuces
My Monday Date
Basin Street Blues
Knockin’ A Jug
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Mahagony Hall Stomp
Some Of These Days
When You’re Smiling
Song Of The Islands
I Can’t Believe That You Are In Love With Me
Creamer – Dear Old Southland
Exactly Like You
CD 5
If I Could Be With You
Body And Soul
Memories Of You
You Rascal You
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South
I Surrender Dear
Them There Eyes
Up A Lazy River
Georgia On My Mind
That’s My Home
Hobo, You Can’t Ride This Train
On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Take The ‘a’ Train
Battle Royal
Birdie Jungle
Mood Indigo
Autumnal Suite
Nite
Wild Man Moore
Paris Stairs
Guitar Amour
Paris Blues
CD 5
Panama
Flee As A Bird (Traditional)/Oh, Didn’t He Ramble
Struttin’ With Some Barbeque
Basin Street Blues
My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It (Traditional)
Bugle Call Rag
I Love Jazz
Twelfth Street Rag
Basin Street Blues
Skokiaan (South African Song)
Frog-I-More Rag
Otchi-Tchor-Ni-Ya
(A) Tenderly (B) You’ll Never Walk Alone
Pretty Little Missy
CD 7
Everybody’s Comin’
Cultural Exchange
Good Reviews
Remember Who You Are
My One Bad Habit
Summer Song
King For A Day
Blow Satchmo
The Real Ambassador
In The Lurch
One Moment Worth Years
They Say I Look Like God
Since Love Had Its Way
I Didn’t Know Until You Told Me
Swing Bells/Blow Satchmo/Finale
Music To Shave By
CD 8
When Your Lover Has Gone
You’re The Top
You Turned The Tables On Me
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Little Girl Blue
Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen
We’ll Be Together Again
I’ve Got The World On A String
Do Nothing ’til You Hear From Me
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen
Shadrack
Go Down Moses (Traditional)
Rock My Soul (In The Bossom Of Abraham)
Ezekiel Saw De Wheel (Traditional)
On My Way (Got On My Travelin’ Shoes)
Down By The Riverside (Traditional)
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (Traditional)
Jonah And The Whale
Didn’t It Rain (Traditional)
CD 9
When Did You Leave Heaven?
You’re A Heavenly Thing
I Married An Angel
A Sinner Kissed An Angel
Angela Mia
Angel Child
And The Angels Sing
Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)
I’ll String Along With You
Angel
The Prisoner’s Song
Goodnight, Angel
Muskat Ramble (Traditional)
Sugar (That Sugar Baby O’ Mine)
The Preacher (Traditional)
Dardanella
Let’s Sing Like A Dixieland Band (Traditional)
Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
Brother Bill (Traditional)
Little Ol’ Tune
At The Jazz Band Ball
Rocky Mountain Moon
Bye Bye Blues
CD 10
St. James Infirmary (Gambler’s Blues) (Traditional)
I Want A Big Butter & Egg Man
I Ain’t Got Nobody
Panama
Dr. Jazz
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight (Traditional)
Frankie And Johnny
I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of This Jelly Roll
Drop That Sack
Jelly Roll Blues
Old Kentucky Home
Chimes Blues
Carry Me Back To Old Virginny
Darling Nelly Gray Darling Nelly Gray
In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
The Old Folks At Home
The Flat Foot Floogie
The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On)
My Walking Stick
W.P.A.
Boog-It
Cherry
Marie