Louis River

Here's Louis from his first flush of success at the Famous Door in New York City. Backed by his New Orleans gang, Prima's distinctive style was already emerging on material like "How'm I Doin'," "Plain Old Me," "Sweet Sue," "Lazy River," "Dinah," and the original version of "Sing Sing Sing." Although the backing is strictly New Orleans (and thus a long way stylistically from his later Capitol sides with Sam Butera & the Witnesses), most of the tunes boast the highly inventive clarinet work of Pee Wee Russell, and Prima's horn is well to the fore on these sides. One for hardcore Prima fans.

The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars are the cream of the crop of current New Orleans musicians, paying tribute to the musician who started it all in the Crescent City. Comprised of new arrangements and recordings of music associated with Louis by a rotating cast of key New Orleans players including guest features from Wynton Marsalis, Common, and more. Features a previously unknown Louis Armstrong and the All Stars track.

Born in New Orleans, trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was the first big Jazz-star. He became interested in music early on and began playing the popular music of his hometown on cornet. Legendary trumpeter King Oliver gave Armstrong, who had gotten his first musical education at the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, some lessons. Brass bands were playing on the Mississippi steamers at the time and Armstrong soon landed a gig with the orchestra of Fate Marable, where he significantly expanded his technical skills and later was able to master even the most difficult scores. After replacing King Oliver in Kid Ory's band, he soon followed his teacher to Chicago, the Jazz center of the 1920s. Armstrong was one of the first musicians to emerge as a soloist from the collective improvisations of early Jazz with his own style and stretched out soloing.

In 1997, Dave Alvin – former guitarist and songwriter with the Blasters, and one of the leading advocates of classic blues and R&B on the West Coast roots rock scene – played a special show in Long Beach, California, where he was joined by three very special guests. The fabled Texas fiddler and guitarist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Chicago harmonica master Billy Boy Arnold, and San Francisco-born blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker all sat in with Alvin that evening, making for a very eventful evening for fans of blues and American roots music. The show was captured on tape, and Live in Long Beach 1997 allows listeners to hear Alvin mix it up on-stage with a few of his heroes. Songs include "Barn Burning", "Long White Cadillac", "I Wish You Would", "Chains of Love", "Jolie Blon", "Wabash Cannonball", and more.