Reissue roundup. (The Music).

It would be nearly impossible to overemphasize Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's importance in jazz--or Americana, for that matter. He was one of the most influential artists in the music's history (b. August 4,1901, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. July 6, 1971). But he was more than just a jazz musician, he was an enormously popular entertainer. Although other black jazz artists would eventually be accepted in white society, Armstrong was one of the first. He found his way into the hearts of many otherwise closed to his kind.

His career as a professional musician began as a teenager, shortly after his release from New Orleans' Colored Waifs Home, where he had spent several years for firing off a pistol on New Year's Eve (1911 or 1912). In 1917, Joe "King" Oliver, considered to be the most important comet player in the city at the time, took note of his excellent playing ability and offered Armstrong coaching on the instrument and steadier work as a musician.

For two years Oliver and Armstrong made great music together and, had it not been for the piano player in the band, they may have kept this association longer. The piano player was Lillian Hardin, who took a personal interest in the young musician, becoming the second major influence in his professional life. In 1924 Armstrong and Hardin were married; soon after she convinced him to quit Oliver's band. He and Lillian then moved to New York where he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. His musical ideas, some of which were harmonies he and Oliver had developed, influenced the writing of Henderson's arranger, Don Redman. Armstrong stayed with Henderson for a little over a year. Over the next several years he recorded extensively, including the first of the famous Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions and as accompanist to the best of the blues singers, Bessie Smith among them.

By the thirties, Armstrong had replaced the cornet with the trumpet. His career had become the success that he had been hoping for. In 1932, he made his first visit to Europe where he was enthusiastically received, but by the mid-forties, big band jazz was losing its appeal with audiences, replaced by small combos playing a new kind of music called bop. Joe Glaser, his longtime manager decided it was time to revamp Armstrong's career and set out to develop a new, smaller ensemble of well-known musicians that gradually came to be known as Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars.

With the All-Stars, Armstrong began a fervid succession of world tours with rarely a night off. The first All-Stars included Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Earl Hines and Big Sid Catlett, but the group underwent numerous personnel changes over the years. The format and content of the All-Stars' shows were predictable, with solos being repeated in successive performances, often note for note. The earliest All-Stars are well represented on Satchmo At Symphony Hall and New Orleans Nights, while the later bands produced some classic performances on Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy (Columbia/Legacy CK 64925 or CS 64925 on SACD), Ambassador Satch (CK or CS 64926), and Satch Plays Fats (CK or CS 64927). On these recordings Armstrong's own playing is outstanding.

Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy was recorded between July 12 and 14, 1954; the currently available CD or SACD also includes a short interview of Handy conducted in October, 1956. Among the personnel on this recording are long-time members of the group, Barney Bigard (clarinet), Arvell Shaw (Bass) and Velma Middleton (vocals). Ambassador Satch is a collection of recordings made live during Armstrong's European concert tour in 1955 along with two studio recordings that were previously thought to be part of this tour. Several of his long-time musical partners have accompanied him here as well. Satch Plays Fats was recorded in April and May of 1955, and has several bonus tracks that were recorded in the late Twenties and Early Thirties that offer the listener a very extensive introduction to Armstrong in both early and late stages of his career. All three albums offer bonus tracks that were made during these recording sessions.

Armstrong aficionados could name dozens more albums in addition to these three to arrive at a list of essential Satchmo recordings, but they are certainly representative of the artist's enormous talent and versatility at one stage of his career--and for only one of the many record labels for which he recorded. All are monophonic recordings, of course, and none has a sound quality approaching the high expectations of audiophiles who value sound over music. There are moments within each that might surprise the astute listener, though, as dynamic range and transparency are often in abundance--in the SACD versions, at least. Of the three, I enjoy Ambassador Satch most for the interaction between the musicians and the live audience, but then, I generally do prefer live albums to studio recordings.

In the next installment of Reissue Roundup, I'll take another look at five classic jazz reissues that are now just appearing in the new SACD format. Chad Kasem of Analogue Productions has licensed these quintessential recordings from Fantasy and promises more to come. The artists included in this first round of releases are Chet Baker, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and two from Sonny Rollins. As always I welcome reader comments by electronic mail. I can be reached at [e-mail].--SGB