LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1929-1930 | The Classics Chronological Series – 557 (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On March 1, 1929, Eddie Condon managed to assemble a completely unrehearsed band in a recording studio at Liederkranz Hall in New York City, where two of the greatest jazz records of the entire decade were waxed and soon issued under the name of Fats Waller & His Buddies. Four days later, Condon was in a different studio with a band led by Panamanian pianist Luis Russell. This ten-piece orchestra was identified on record as Louis Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom Five. Their "Mahogany Hall Stomp" perfectly embodies both the leader's personality and jazz itself at the end of the 1920s. The Armstrong chronology jumps to July of 1929 with four beautiful Fats Waller melodies and into September with a string of pretty tunes that seem to anticipate popular taste during the 1930s. In December of 1929 Armstrong made a series of records with Luis Russell's orchestra. This placed him in the same group with trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen, something that should have happened more often. Hoagy Carmichael sat in on December 13th to assist Armstrong in singing "Rockin' Chair." On January 24, 1930, the era of sweet bands seems to have officially opened with "Song of the Islands," garnished with three violins and vibraphone played by Paul Barbarin while the band's valet sat in on the drums. Moving into the spring of 1930, a duet rendition of "Dear Old Southland" paired the trumpeter with pianist Buck Washington. As the Great Depression settled over the listening public, Armstrong recorded numerous pop songs in front of a large, lightly sweetened orchestra. His trumpet and persona transform even the least of these ditties into precious delicacies that still nourish and satisfy many years after their creation. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1     Mahogany Hall Stomp 3:27
Spencer Williams
2     Ain't Misbehavin' 3:24
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
3     Black and Blue 3:10
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
4     That Rhythm Man 3:11
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
5     Sweet Savannah Sue 3:15
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
6     Some of These Days 2:54
Shelton Brooks
7     Some of These Days 3:15
Shelton Brooks
8     When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You) 2:59
Mark Fisher / Joe Goodwin / Larry Shay
9     When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You) 3:31
Mark Fisher / Joe Goodwin / Larry Shay
10     After You've Gone 3:24
Henry Creamer / Turner Layton
11     I Ain't Got Nobody 2:46
Roger Graham / Dave Peyton / Spencer Williams
12     Dallas Blues 3:17
Lloyd Garrett / Hart A. Wand
13     St. Louis Blues 3:02
W.C. Handy
14     Rockin' Chair 3:22
Hoagy Carmichael
15     Song of the Islands 3:29
Charles E. King
16     Bessie Couldn't Help It 3:22
Charles A. Bayha / Hoagy Carmichael / Jacques Richmond / Byron Warner
17     Blue Turning Grey Over You 3:28
Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
18     Dear Old Southland 3:20
Henry Creamer / Turner Layton
19     My Sweet Hunk o' Trash 3:22
James P. Johnson / F.E. Miller
20     I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me 3:10
Clarence Gaskill / Jimmy McHugh
21     Indian Cradle Song 3:00
Gus Kahn / Mabel Wayne
22     Exactly Like You 3:28
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh