News for Louis Armstrong fans, Mosaic set planned

Mosaic's Scott Wenzel just told me they are planning a Louis Armstrong box with his complete 1934-1946 Decca sessions on 7 CDs. No release date has been scheduled yet.

 

Excellent news!

I can also recommend the Armstrong LPs on Classic in the meantime.

 

I think I can safely predict that the Mosaic will have superior sound quality compared to the Classic CDs, even considering the age of the recordings I haven't heard the Classic LPs.

 

is this considered as strong a period for Pops as say the hot fives and sevens era? I dont often notice raves about this period of his career.

 

No, it isn't. During this period Armstrong was the star soloist fronting big bands that were, well, not quite up to his standard, while his 1925-1928 Hot Five/Hot Seven sides were of course seminal; they transformed jazz into a solo art.

 

Hmmm. I dont know. I think Definitive records put this in 2 CD sets a few years ago.

The French are doing the 'Integrale Louis Armstrong' and they should get there shortly too.

 

Well, choosing between Mosaic and Definitive is not difficult for me...

 

It is for me since I already have the Definitive sets, as many Satch fans do.

 

I never buy Definitive sets or other labels from Andorra.

 

I wasn't making a sound quality judgment, only pointing out something members can listen to if they need a fix before the release date. I'm sure the Mosaics sound good.

 

Those 50's Louis Armstrong Columbia albums sound amazing! Honestly, some of the best music I have.

I suspect that the Classic LPs will sound better than the Mosaic. Perhaps despite being Classic, but nonetheless.

What I am most excited about are the Pure Pleasure Louis albums and the upcoming Classic Records 45 RPM of the Ellington/Armstrong albums. I bet they are going to be pretty incredible.

 

It sounds very interesting.

 

My Ellington/Armstrong 45rpms arrived list night, and gave them a quick spin, and thought they sounded wonderful !

There's an amazing presence when Louis starts blowing on that trumpet of his !

 

It will be interesting to see how the Mosaic set turns out.

Speaking of the Louis and Duke jams on Classic, I will be ordering both those sets on the Clarity vinyl tomorrow, I can't wait to hear these.

As far as Mosaic, let's see what they bring.

 

Actually, for the 34-46 Armstrong years, I would be very happy with the sort of double LP format that Mosaic has suggested for the triumphant return to vinyl.

PS: Great to hear about the Duke and Louis. Definitely provide an update after you've gotten to know the albums better!

 

Thanks for posting the note

One shouldn't go into this expecting sound quality like Satch Plays Fats or Ellington/Armstrong. These on Mosaic will be mono from 78s or in some cases if they exist and we're so lucky, 16" 33 1/3rpm transcription "covers" of sessions. Mosaic's release is almost certain to sound better than the other releases of this same material that are out there, but there'll be no sonic comparison to Louis' '50s and '60s records. That's not to imply it's not of interest musically of course.

Musically, this will include selections representing the period of Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra which featured Louis fronting big band pop music. We'd find Louis as a mainstream, modern popular music star turning out dance, ballad and novelty singles of varied quality. After the time covered in this set came the Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars period, which features Louis fronting popular jazz in a small combo with a Dixieland bent, taking what might be termed a "retro" angle as he was no longer "modern." Some folks like one era and not the other; I can enjoy them both. If you do enjoy the big band pop era you're likely to find plenty to enjoy in this Mosaic set.

That's a great sounding recording, from 1961. Stereo 3-track tape. Duke, Louis and a small group of fine musicians performing custom arrangements by Duke of great music by Duke... perhaps Louis' greatest '60s sessions.

 

This thread is about Mosaic's upcoming reissue of Armstrong's 1934-1946 Decca sessions on CD, not his 1950s and 1960s recordings.

I was referring to the French Classics label, which has been reissuing jazz from the 1920s-1940s on CD for years now. The sound quality on French Classics is so-so at best, that's why I said that the upcoming Mosaic sides will undoubtedly sound better.

 

Thanks for the explanation

Let me add that Mosaic issued a set with Armstrong's 1950s small-group All-Stars Decca recordings years ago. It's OOP.

 

Mosaic's earlier Louis Armstrong set, "The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of LA and The All Stars" is one of my all time favorite Mosaic sets.

I'll never forget when my wife called to order it for me for a present.
Louis Armstrong was on the cover of their catalog, and when the employee at Mosaic (who I think might have even been Scott Wenzel at the time) asked if she was ordering from the most recent catalog she said, "I don't know there's some guy in a white suit on the cover."
The Mosaic rep laughed and said, "I guess this set is not for you?"
Classic.

 

.

 

The music in there is some of the greatest Satchmo of all time. IMHO it rivals the 5&7 and the 30s bands. Just incredible stuff.

Most of it was later released by Verve on a 3CD set 'Satchmo Autobiography'. A copy should be in every household in the USA.

 

You're welcome. Yes I have that set and have enjoyed it very much over the years.

Yeah.

 

There seemed to be some confusion about which part of Armstrong's career will be covered by the upcoming Mosaic set and I hope your explanation helped clearing that up.

 

I meant this French Classics series in my earlier posts:



I'm sure the upcoming Mosaic set will sound much better than the CDs in that series, which, as I said, generally do not have very good sound.

 

I think the confusion was caused because of LeeS's initial suggestion that in the meantime (i.e., until this Mosaic set comes out) one might want to buy the Classic (Records) LPs. These are materials from the 50's and 60's. Someone, thinking he was talking about the (French) Classic company, said that the Mosaic would sound better. I, realizing what LeeS was talking about and not realizing the confusion, took issue with this claim, and said that the Classic LPs would sound better.

I was then upbraided for talking about what LeeS had innocuously brought up.

This thread is about the Mosaic set. Any discussion of what someone might want to buy until the Mosaic set shows up is strictly verboten, as is any discussion of how this set's quality might compare to that of Louis' later recordings.