Believe it or not, it took me all of six decades to come to appreciate the genius of Louis Armstrong. Growing up, I regularly saw him on TV acting the fool for the white folks who of course dominated the screen. The only "coloureds" we saw (and I use language which was considered acceptable in those days) were usually good natured, but not very bright servants of white American families. Then of course we in Britain had 'The Black & White Minstrel Show'. Yeuk! Armstrong was of course playing a stereotypical part. He was above all a showman and he knew exactly what he was doing. Having come from a very poor New Orleans background, he had learned at an early age to do whatever it took to get his music heard. However it left me cold and as a consequence I missed out on the great music he had made. My own views were confirmed when I read that Miles Davis, the ultimate angry young black man, abhorred the grinning 'Uncle Tom' character adopted by Armstrong to appease white audiences.
However, I later read a comment Davis made about the playing of Louis Armstrong. It is worth reproducing in full here:
"You can't play nothing on modern trumpet that doesn't come from him, not even modern shit. I can't even remember a time when he sounded bad playing the trumpet. Never. Not even one time. He had great feeling up on his playing and he always played on the beat. I just loved the way he played and sang".
If Armstrong impressed Miles Davis, then maybe it was time for me to reappraise my view of Satchmo.
People who are far more knowledgeable about jazz music than me, told me that I could do no better than to hear the 1920's recordings that have become known simply as the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. I didn't need too much persuasion as I had already become infatuated with 1920's and 1930's blues and I was already familiar with Bessie Smith's 1925 Columbia recordings that featured a 23 year old Louis Armstrong on cornet.
The problem was in what format to get hold of the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. Since their original release as sides of 78 RPM discs, they have been in circulation in numerous formats but not always particularly well presented - and in some cases even at the incorrect speed or with incorrect titles. Most reviews indicated that the definitive collection was 'The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings' released on Columbia Legacy in 2000. However new copies of this 4 CD package are expensive (currently just under £100 on Amazon).
I was delighted therefore to discover a pristine copy in a local charity shop priced at under £15. And what an absolute gem it is.
A card slipcase houses a very good quality book which contains the four CD's inside the front and back covers. The book itself is a joy with some great contemporary photographs of New Orleans and Chicago (where the recordings were made). There are also commentaries on the musical content of all four discs as well as information on the musicians involved. For me, the most interesting feature of these recordings is that this music is not typical of what Armstrong was playing at that time. He was then a member of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra who were appearing in Chicago nightclubs playing show tunes and other popular songs of the time. It was only because Okeh Records had recognised the demand for black music through the incredible success of Mamie Smith's 'Crazy Blues', that they began issuing what were termed "race recordings". In other words music produced by black singers and musicians for a predominantly black audience. As an up and coming black musician, Armstrong was contracted with Okeh to produce such recordings.
So, the music we hear on these four discs are what Armstrong and his colleagues produced in just 22 days spread between November 1925 and May 1929. Had it not been for this segregation of black artists to produce purely Negro music, the sessions we now refer to as the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, would never have taken place. These musicians were put together purely to make records, not for live public performances. A sobering thought!
Another interesting fact is that the music played harked back to the type of New Orleans jazz that had been popular about 10 years earlier. Things had moved on somewhat in the musical taste of the jazz listening public, yet despite this, Armstrong succeeded in setting a benchmark for the future of jazz. Indeed it has been claimed on numerous occasions that this body of work changed the field of jazz music forever. It is no exaggeration to say that the music included in this package has influenced everything that has happened since.
Not only does this set contain the complete recordings of the actual Hot Five and Hot Seven, but also all Armstrong related combo recordings that were released by Okeh, plus bonus tracks under the name of Lil's Hot Shots (Lil Hardin being the pianist with the Hot Five and also at that time, Armstrong's wife). Finally there are also recordings under the name of clarinetist Johnny Dodds that were made with Armstrong in April 1927 and which became the prototype for the Hot Seven recordings that would take place only two weeks later.
A pretty comprehensive package, I think you will agree.
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