ARMSTRONG, LOUIS

While the 1950s were largely given over to cold war muscle flexing, jazz musicians emerged as spectacular cultural ambassadors, embodying spontaneity, joy, and creativity. While he was often thought of as merely an entertainer at home, Louis Armstrong was celebrated abroad for the continuing quality of his art, his trumpet and voice remaining extraordinary instruments. He's heard here in 1955 concert performances in Amsterdam and Milan (and in four U.S. studio tracks from 1956) with the small All-Stars group. It's an excellent band, the rhythm section providing a light, swinging base for Armstrong, while clarinetist Edmond Hall and trombonist Trummy Young provide rousing New Orleans counterpoint to that majestically expressive trumpet. They reach back to the Hot Fives recordings of the 1920s for tunes like "Muskrat Ramble" and further still for the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Tiger Rag," imbuing them with both tremendous vitality and rare art.

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