Louis Armstrong The Best Live

This 1965 Paris concert by Louis Armstrong is not all that different in content from many of his live dates recorded during the last 15 years of his life. His all-stars had changed somewhat, with clarinetist Eddie Shu replacing Edmond Hall, singer Jewel Brown taking the place of the late Velma Middleton, and trombonist Tyree Glenn replacing Trummy Young, but the dependable pianist Billy Kyle (who died the following year) is still on hand to keep the band in a familiar groove. Armstrong sticks to his dependable opener, "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," following it with a spirited "Back Home Again in Indiana." Jewel Brown is acceptable on the snappy "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," but butchers "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine" with an overly dramatic and very pop-ish rendition…

Louis Armstrong was recorded live so many times during the last two decades of his career that jazz fans tend to take many of these releases for granted. But this second volume from a 1965 Paris concert finds Armstrong expanding his repertoire a bit, including pop songs of the day in addition to expected fare like "Muskrat Ramble." The fluid muted trombone of Tyree Glenn is showcased in a swinging "Volare," vocalist Jewel Brown (Velma Middleton's replacement) offers a spirited rendition of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" backed by Billy Kyle's bluesy piano, while bassist Buddy Catlett takes his turn in the spotlight during "Cocktails for Two." The recent turnover in personnel not long before this concert tour hardly seems to have hampered Armstrong, who returns for an crowd-pleasing medley of "When the Saint Go Marchin' In" and the inevitable request for "Hello Dolly."

The title of this compilation, All-Time Greatest Hits, is misleading. That's no disrespect to the material here, which is mostly very good. It's just not Louis Armstrong's all-time greatest. These 18 tracks come from Armstrong's "pop" era, the final decades of his career where, under the tutelage of producer Milt Gabler and arranger Gordon Jenkins, the jazz pioneer moved full-bore into a genial form of heavily orchestrated pop music. The Armstrong of this era, a large, bear-like man with an infectious laugh and a gravelly voice, immaculately dressed in a crisp suit with a white linen handkerchief in one hand and a rarely played trumpet in the other, has become the iconic image of the man, which unfairly relegates his best, most passionate and most influential work to the background…

The traditional Louis Armstrong - the funky, dixieland influenced bandleader - is hard to spot on this album. Instead, you get a funky and eclectic collection of songs that works well together - not unlike a big pot 'o gumbo.

Culled from fairly representative 1959 live recordings of two different versions of Satchmo's All Stars band, SINGIN' AND PLAYIN' suffers from poor sound quality. As always, however, Armstrong's joy and exuberance manage to shine through. The first three tracks are from the excellent Trummy Young/Billy Kyle version of the All Stars, arguably the band best matched to Armstrong's unique combination of serious jazz and comedic routines. Listeners interested in this lineup, however, would do well to also pick up the sublime MACK THE KNIFE or THE GREAT CHICAGO CONCERT 1956. The remaining seven tracks feature an altogether different All Stars which included vibraphonist Tyree Glenn and clarinetist Marty Napoleon.

From a label with no shortage of first-rate jazz material come this very attractive vocal sampler. Staying true to the Compact Jazz ethos, Best of the Jazz Vocalists favors quality over hits and comes with a budget price tag. The majority of songs are from the label's prime '50s and '60s run, including a cloud-bound "Summertime" by Helen Merrill and one of the all-time great versions of "If You Could See Me Now," compliments of Billy Eckstine. Continuing with this balancing act between the sexes, the collection also includes fine work by Bill Henderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Abbey Lincoln, Jon Hendricks, Shirley Horn, and Anita O'Day; latter-day entries include Lincoln's "I've Got Thunder and It Rings" from her 1990 Verve debut and Horn's "I Got Lost in His Arms" from 1988's Close Enough for Love. Nicely wrapped up with Nina Simone's Afro-percussion clarion call "Come Ye," this Verve roundup works as the perfect primer for more adventurous trips through the label's fertile stores of essential jazz.