Louis Armstrong's Recording
| "West End Blues" | |
|---|---|
| Twelve-bar blues by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five | |
| Released | 1928 (1928) |
| Recorded | 1928 (1928) |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Composer | Joe "King" Oliver |
By far the best known recording of "West End Blues" is the 3-minute-plus, 78 RPM recording made by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928.
Armstrong plays trumpet (and does some scat singing) backed by a band that included the pianist Earl Hines. Armstrong played an eight-bar trumpet solo near the end of the record.
Other portions of this record also in high regard include the trumpet introduction by Armstrong that begins the song - this cadenza incorporates an almost syncopated opening, the wordless 'scat' singing chorus by Armstrong where he accompanies and varies a melody played by the clarinetist, and a piano solo by Hines. The number is closed by a metallic click by drummer Zutty Singleton.
This recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.
Jazz writer and historian William Russell has commented that other jazz trumpeters would be better off avoiding the too frequent imitations of Armstrong's introduction on the number; while the most virtuosic may have the technical ability to duplicate Armstrong's notes, they still suffer in comparison to Armstrong's feeling and originality.
Read more about this topic: West End Blues
Famous quotes containing the words louis armstrong, louis, armstrong and/or recording:
“You ask: What is it that philosophers have called qualitative states? I answer, only half in jest: As Louis Armstrong is said to have said when asked what jazz is, ‘If you got to ask, you ain’t never gonna get to know.’”
—Ned Block (b. 1942)
“With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night
That somehow the right is the right
And the smooth shall bloom from the rough:
Lord, if that were enough?”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“But Jonnë had a bright sword by his side,
And it was made of the mettle so free,
That had not the king stept his foot aside,
He had smitten his head from his faire bodde.”
—Unknown. Johnie Armstrong (l. 45–48)
“Write while the heat is in you.... The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)