Ive Got the World on a String / Under the Stars

The work of Louis Armstrong was one of the formative influences on music of the twentieth century Although Armstrong arguably cut his best sides in the 20s he continued to be an important representative of jazz (earning him the name Ambassador) right up until the 70s when he died During the late 50s and early 60s he experienced a full-blown revival partly due to a successful string of duets he cut with Ella Fitzgerald It was also during this period that he originally cut these two LPs for Verve iIve Got the World on a String/i and Louis Under the Stars/i (released in 1957 and 58 respectively) Armstrong doesnt play a whole lot of trumpet here because at this point he had been more or less enshrined as an institution and was getting by on personality and charisma alone On these sides he was basically propped up before an orchestra--in this case one conducted by Russell Garcia--and left to do what hed become best at mainly being Louis Armstrong Which he does well of course his smoldering voice is still surprisingly supple even at this stage in the game This is especially true considering that all the tracks on this double CD were recorded on the same day August 14 1957 Typical of record company practices at the time the session was fleshed out to make two albums Here it is restored in its original order and length complete with alternate takes liner notes and original artwork Just five days after Armstrong cut these sides he performed his historic duet with Ella Fitzgerald on iPorgy & Bess/i which propelled him into perhaps the final great phase of his career i--Joe S Harrington/i

I'VE GOT THE WORLD ON A STRING/LOUIS UNDER THE STARS