Jazz for aficionados

Louis Armstrong

LOUIS ARMSTRONG - THE HOT FIVES VOLUME 1

Armstrong(cornet, vocals), Kid Ory(trombone), Johnny Dodds(clarinet, alto), Lil Armstrong(piano), Johnny St. Cyr(banjo), 
OKeh / CBS   1925-1926 / 1988

come back sweet papa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exT3OJ6X2mc

cornet chop suey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX6llYLb_p0

heebies jeebies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYI9dPyZ7lw

muskrat ramble
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbjkN6ZB-os

don't forget to mess around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arQjYnW3x8Y

They made do without bass or drums.

Cheers

**** That they kept playing it until they got it ’right’? ****

Yup. Or, at least until they had a take that they liked. Some producers want options to choose from later.

**** Does that mean the higher the ’take’ number, the better the performance? ****

Not necessarily. This concerns the first question as well. Sometimes, the producer or leader isn’t exactly sure what he wants, so he may want a version that’s a little faster or maybe a little slower. Or, one take may have a great alto solo, but not so great piano solo. Or, they’ll have a great take 11 and Nat farts during Cannonball’s solo (it happens) and they can’t edit it out.

**** Does the ’take’ number become part of the name of the tune? In other words, if that performance was used later on another disc, would it still be listed as (take 12).****

Not necessarily. More times than not an alternate take is used and nothing is printed about it unless two or more takes of the same time are included on the same record. Or, is a different take than the one on the original record and appearing on a later release. 

**** Is the order in which the tunes appear on the CD / LP of any significance?****

Definitely. They strive for a certain logic or flow in the order. You don’t want two or more ballads back to back, or all the fast tunes back to back for example. Kind of like movements of a symphony.

“…of the same time” should read “….of the same tune.

@frogman 

Thanks for the info.

Cheers