Jazz
Recorded August & October 1957 at Capitol Studios, Hollywood
Louis Armstrong Trumpet, Vocal
Ella Fitzgerald Vocal
Herb Ellis Guitar
Ray Brown Bass
Louie Bellson Drums
Oscar Peterson Percussion
Buddy Rich Drums
Danny Barcelona Drums
We speak of the sound of jazz. We might just as well say the sound of Louis Armstrong. But Louis was more than that. He was the sound of humanity and hope. --Norman Granz
Brief as it was, to everyone's regret, the professional association between Louis Armstrong and Norman Granz resulted in some of the finest recorded music from the great man's September years.
Granz was not the first to put Fitzgerald and Armstrong together in the studio. The credit for that goes to Milt Gabler of Decca, who did it in 1946. But while those results were fine, Granz, who by the late summer of 1956 had launched his "songbook" concept for Fitzgerald, was determined to give her and Armstrong nothing but the cream of standard songs.
Everyone can be thankful that the encounter between Louis Armstrong and Norman Granz came about at all, and that Granz, in teaming Armstrong with Fitzgerald, produced what a singer-musician with whom I listened to this aptly dubbed "the bible of jazz singing." That it is, with Armstrong's golden horn to top it off!
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