Looking for recommendations on the best Louis Armstrong LP to start with. See several on Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct... Love his voice; what's a top notch LP to get first?
If you are talking vinyl ... try The Great Summit: Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Two other excellent albums are Satch Plays Fats (Waller) and Louis Armstrong Plays W.C Handy.
The Armstrong/Ellington LPs are great performances and I play them regularly, but the sound quality is only okay. Better sonics and still great music will be found on:
Ella and Louis, Verve 4003 (Speakers Corner reissue)
Satchmo Plays King Oliver, Audio Fidelity ST-91058 (Classic Records reissue. For a real treat, get the 45 r.p.m. two-song sampler containing "St. James Infirmary")
Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson, Verve VS 6062 (Speakers Corner reissue) .
If you start with just one, I would second Rushton's recommendation of the Satchmo Plays King Oliver LP. Both the musicianship and the recording quality are stunning.
I love the Ella & Louis LPs and Satchmo Plays King Oliver but if its Louis' best music you are after you need to get the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings from the beginning of his career. These are not audiophile fair, but they are musically astonishing. Columbia released these as LPs several years ago, but even if you can only find these recordings as CDs they are so essential that I would never let that stop me from getting them.
Strangely enough, on my system the Echoes of an Era with Armstrong and Ellington is about as good as it gets, usually used and barely played if at all for around $6.
satchmo plays king oliver on classic records 200gm release is one of my favorites. entire album is great from start to finish. Another good one is the verve release of i've got the world on a string.
If you can find the 180G pressings of "Louis Under the Stars" and "I've Got the World On a String" snatch them up! The vocals sound very rich on these 2.
Louis and Duke's first "The Great Summit" is also otstanding.
1. The Great Summit: Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington 2. Satch Plays Fats (Waller) 3. Louis Armstrong Plays W.C Handy. 4. Ella and Louis ... get the 2 cd, 2003 Verve set 5. Complete Hot 5 and Hot 7 box set.
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