^I will definitely make it a priority to check that out soon. I'll see if it's on Google Play for streaming or something.

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Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives And Sevens

1999 - JSP Rcords UK
Finally got around to replacing my old Columbia Jazz Masterpieces Hot Fives And Sevens with this very highly regarded 4 CD box set. No doubt about it, the mastering by John R.T. Davies (apparently a legend in the small world of 78 sourced mastering) is a big improvement on the old Columbia discs.

I know some people have a hard time getting past the "old-timey" sound of early Armstrong, but I highly recommend making the effort to listen for the absolute magic in these recordings. And you do have to pay attention; Dixieland style group improvisation is heavily represented, especially on the early discs, and it sounds homely compared to the brilliance of Armstrong's solos. Early cuts also favor banjo over guitar - probably because it was easier to record - and plunger muted trombone makes a frequent appearance. But then there's Armstrong - check out Hotter Than That - with Lonnie Johnson on guitar, Kid Ory, trombone, Lil Armstrong piano, Johnny Dodds on clarinet:



Great from start to finish, but beginning from about 1:20 Armstrong gives a clinic on what it means to swing a note - listen at ~1:40 especially. The whole band swings in response - even Kid Ory breaks out of his usual marching beat for his trombone solo. Johnson and Armstrong trading bars after Louis' scat solo is my favorite bit.

Another great - West End Blues - replacing Lil with Earl Hines on piano is a big improvement.

^Very cool. Admittedly I have zero Armstrong in my collection and haven't really gotten around to checking out a lot of early jazz styles. My jazz collection sort of begins in the late 40s/early 50s and go from there.

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Horace Silver - The Trio Sides



A 70s 2xLP comp of 50s trio recordings. Very different from Silver's more popular albums on Blue Note, but this great jazz as well. Many of the tracks here are presented in Mono, no rechannelled Stereo as far as I can tell. You can probably find this cheap and it is definitely worth grabbing.

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Oliver Nelson - Screamin' the Blues LP



I don't know much about Nelson, but from what I gather, this is one of his better regarded LPs. Eric Dolphy played on this as well, which is a huge selling point for me as I'm a big Dolphy fan. Compared to "Blues and Abstract Truth", this LP is perhaps a bit more straightforward and less avant garde, but it's still very good. My copy is one of those newer OJC reissues (i.e. not an 80s pressing) done under the auspices of Concord Music Group. These are probably cut from hi-rez digital but most of them sound great anyway.

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