Saturday, December 22, 2018

Louis Armstrong: The Standard OIl Sessions (DOT TIME RECORDS 2018)


Any list of the greatest jazz musicians of all time would have to include Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden and Earl "Fatha" Hines. From 1948 through 1951, those three legends made memorable music night in and night out as part of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars but they didn't make many studio recordings and most of the live recordings that have survived are in inferior sound quality. 

But on January 20, 1950, Armstrong, Hines and Teagarden appeared in a San Francisco recording studio to record a number of songs for Standard Oil's "Musical Map of America" program. Teagarden got to do his favorite feature "Basin Street Blues" while Hines performed a show-stopping version of his specialty, "Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues." But it was Armstrong who was in the spotlight throughout, in peak form vocally and especially on the trumpet, improvising completely different solos on "Muskrat Ramble," "Panama," "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" and other signature numbers. 

When the session was over, Standard Oil never broadcast the results, instead sending severely edited 15-minute programs to schools across the nation. But a complete copy of the proceedings, including rehearsals, was sent to Louis Armstrong's home in Corona, Queens in 1950 and is now issued commercially for the first time on Dot Time Legends. Fans of Armstrong, Teagarden, Hines and jazz in general will not want to miss this special release featuring some of jazz's greatest names at the top of their game in pristine sound quality.


1. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans 05:39
2. Muskrat Ramble 05:42
3. Basin Street Blues 04:21
4. Struttin' With Some Barbecue 05:05
5. Boogie Woogie On St Louis Blues 04:51
6. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans 04:33
7. Panama 04:11
8. Up The Lazy River 04:37
9. Back O' Town Blues 06:22
10. Miss New Orleans (rehearsal take 1) 04:08
11. Miss New Orleans (rehearsal take 2) 03:33