Album Reviews

but musically this is a 7-8 for me among his works.

The WAMM Master or Chronosonic XVXes, which are 10" taller, might have been visually overpowering.

I realized that after I commented, checked the Wilson website.

Do they scare your friends when they walk into the room?

Really nice...Listened to this on headphones with an Audioquest Dragonfly...LIVE sound!

Thanks for the recommend, I was looking at this and undecided by it being a comp. I've tried to pick up his vinyl releases and have trouble determining the source and it's quality? He was such a master and one of the best in his and an all time musician. His story as many others that were segregated produced some of the most playful and beautiful music in spite of it.

Yeah, Armstrong's Hot Five & Seven recordings might be at best about a "4" on the "Sound" scale (and Armstrong's first recordings with King Oliver maybe a "2") but please, at least listen to, let's say "West End Blues" or "Heebie Jeebies" to hear what might be the Big Bang of modern pop music: the virtuoso solo, rhythmic swing, a voice sounding nothing like Caruso with incredible phrasing. And not limited to "jazz": you can hear Armstrong's trumpet (though at the time uncredited) on Jimmy Rogers "Blue Yodel 9"

Admittedly some of his mugging and vaudevillian entertaining is dated, but how many musicians over age 60 can you name that knocked the Beatles out of #1 at the height of Beatlemania? Or have a top 40 hit over 15 years after their death? Or be the vocalist on the closing song of one the top grossing movies of 2021?

On CD, look for used copies of The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven either 2000 CBS Legacy box or JSP remastered by John RT Davies (avoid budget reissues or early CBS digital). Or start with wonderful 1994 CBS Legacy overview box Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1923-1934. Or look for clean vinyl copies of the mid-50's Columbia four volumes The Louis Armstrong Story.

If you just can't stand listening to anything from the 78 era, on vinyl I'd start with Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (Analog Spark) or maybe forthcoming Ella & Louis on Verve/Acoustic Sounds. If you're really fixated on sound, go for the audiophile-approved Satchmo Plays King Oliver.

I ordered this LP immediately after reading this column, feeling somewhat proprietary about it on many levels. It's just as awesome as Michael notes, though a Koetsu Rosewood Signature sure helps. I write principally to make two points. First, Jazz Fest will once again do its thing at the end of the month after two years of cancellation. In New Orleans, our excitement over its return is palpable and immeasurable. Those of you who are Fest fans know that the Economy Hall Jazz Tent beautifully honors Pops with the incredible play in the tent hour after hour of the most marvelous Dixieland. The tent has a time machine quality, which I just adore. It's magnificent, truly special. Second, the occasion of the album resonates with the manner in which the City has been trying in its modest way to make amends for the appalling prejudice Pops experienced when he came home in 1949 to reign as Zulu, something he's dreamt of all his life and was so meaningful to him. It was, however, nonetheless, 1949, and hence the height of Jim Crow. The discrimination and racism he experienced here alienated him from New Orleans forever. In expiation, our airport was named after him, Manhattan didn’t do that, and a giant park on Rampart St. was also named after him. And this is the Treme, where he grew up as a boy, famously working on Rampart St. for a Jewish family with a store on Rampart that took a real interest in him. It's beautiful that his name adorns the Treme neighborhood. We can't help feeling like he's ours, like when we eat red beans and rice on Monday, and later in the week. We for sure celebrate Pops at Fest, just like we do Fess, Fats, Cosimo, Ellis, Dr. John, etc. The point is, an LP like this, recorded on Esplanade, not far from Treme, to honor Pops, it makes you glad to be alive, this is a beautiful thing for local folks to have done. Thanks, Michael, for the enthusiastic recommendation. For Analog Planet fans who may be coming, it's imperative not to forget the Gospel Tent. Those who are alive to visit the Tent can direct some thanks to the Great Spirit for surviving the pandemic grave. I'm thinking the Gospel Tent this Fest will be especially amazing this Fest! Thanks Pops. We love you, every local death has someone playing St. James Infirmary somewhere, somehow, I'm partial to the Hot Five version, recorded 1929 (Philips). Pops a young man. Staggering recording. Red beans and ricely yours. adw

OK, I bought the Sonic Presence microphones.

What software are you using?

Thanks!