Customer Reviews

Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives & Sevens - Vol. 1

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Though I have not studied the different recordings of this music, and therefore cannot comment on the relative merits of this set, there is no doubt that here the musical values of these most important performances are extremely well conveyed. This is especially true of certain qualities which make this music uniquely powerful.
I refer to the stereoscopic voicing of Armstrong's solos, which becomes characteristic of his playing towards the end of 1927, and continues through to 1931 (from track 18 of disc 2 to the end of disc 4). An explanation for this musical phenomenon lies in the interplay between syncopation and rubato, and occurs most clearly in pieces in which the former creates a lively basis for the rhythm of the music. The consequence of this interplay, along with dynamic contrast and other variations such as those of sound and pitch, is to make the cornet or trumpet stand out in relief against both the accompanying rhythm and the melody. For, while departing from it, the solo evokes the original line both in the harmony and in its own melodic shape. Most significantly, it retains the pattern of syncopated rhythm that is distinctive to the melody and also provides a basis for the interplay with rubato.
Though this stereoscopic voicing is characteristic of at least half of the pieces in this set, it is sustained with great cogency and depth of expression on the following: Once In A While, Savoy Blues, No (No, Papa, No), Basin Street Blues, No-One Else But You, Heah Me Talkin' to Ya and Tight Like This. In my view any one of these is worth the price of the whole set.

Having only known these recordings from quite poorly mastered CD's I was astounded when I played the first disc from this set. The remastering is superb and these early recordings sound as good as many from the 1940's. The trombone parts come across better than on any other set I have listened to. Don't let the low price fool you. This is the real deal and worth every penny. The later recordings on discs three and four are mainly with his larger groups and are aimed at a wider market, but still worth a listen. For example, there is the recording of Old Rocking Chair with the vocals shared between Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael. This is a must have set for anyone who likes Louis Armstrong or is interested in the development of early jazz.

When writing about jazz, the poet Philip Larkin described Louis Armstrong as "the Chaucer and Shakespeare of jazz". Having listened to these wonderfully remastered discs, I can only agree. The playing of all the musicians is sensational, with "West End Blues" (played at the funeral of a friend of mine) being a particular favourite.

Even if you are not sure that you like early jazz, you should buy this set, to which the Penguin Jazz CD Guide quite rightly awarded its highest accolade.

4 discs of heaven with many peaks as Louis stretches his playing further & further. The very best tracks on these music-changing sessions make you feel like you've just been born. The Big Band Sides 1930 - 1932

Newcomer to jazz, for the price and sheer volume of music this is excellent value. Really interesting to hear the development from the King Oliver style with everyone playing at once to a more modern structure, and then later to more polished, commercial tunes.
I was always led to believe the blues was created by Mississipi Delta singer-guitarists, then picked up and popularised by white rockers in the 60s.
It turns out that it was effectively the soundtrack to nightlife in US cities as early as the 20s, played by bands for whom the guitarist was at best a sideman.
Can't believe knowledge of many of these brilliant tunes is still restricted to the cognoscenti. Also, listen out for the little passages that obviously inspired some famous gangster film scores.

Elvis Presley did not invent rock and roll – many artists were heading toward the same fusion of blues and country – but he was the first to define and refine it as a musical form, the first to create a coherent body of work, the first to sell it to a mass audience and so, by the default, the first to become a major star of the genre.

Louis Armstrong arguably holds the same position in jazz. In 1924 he was a sideman in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, playing what was still seen as underground, “minority” music. By 1930 he had become jazz’s leading artist while jazz itself had crossed over to white audiences to such an extent that, until the advent of rock and roll, it would be the dominant stylistic influence on popular music.

Both achievements are directly attributable to the records Armstrong cut between 1925 and 1929, his first solo recordings, widely known as “the hot fives and hot sevens” after the bands he fronted on them. They are to jazz what Elvis’s early Sun sessions and RCA Victor recordings are to rock and roll music: the core of genre, its central canon, its template. And these discs contain those recordings in their entirety, in the finest available mastering to date. Buy them. Quite simply, they ARE jazz.