Happy Birthday, Louis Armstrong

August 4 is the birthday of jazz trumpeter and singer, Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), one of the greatest influences in the history of jazz. Armstrong shifted the focus of jazz from the collective music of the traditional New Orleans ensemble to a music that valued solo performance and virtuosity.
A good example of Armstrong's improvisational genius is "Weather Bird," in which he and pianist Earl Hines turn a traditional ragtime piece into a brilliant interchange of call and response and broken rhythms. (Compare the Armstrong-Hines version ...

... with the earlier, more controlled version by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band:

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends two records of Louis Armstrong:

• Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines: The Genius of Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1 1923-1933 (Columbia CG 30416, 2 LPs)
  
• Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines: Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines, 1928 (Smithsonian Collection R-002, 2 LPs)
  

Unfortunately, these are only available in vinyl. Jim Determan, who has updated Lyons's list of albums for CD, recommends instead the following Columbia titles:

• Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives and Sevens (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong: The Big Band Recordings 1930-1932 (Buy at Amazon.com)
  
• Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives, Volume I (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Volume II (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Volume III (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines: Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines, Volume IV (Buy at Barnes & Noble)
  
• Louis Armstrong: Louis in New York, Volume V (Buy at Amazon.com)
  
• Louis Armstrong: St. Louis Blues, Volume VI (Buy at Amazon.com)
  
• Louis Armstrong: You're Drivin' Me Crazy, Volume VII (Buy at Amazon.com)
  
• Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1923-1934 (Buy at Amazon.com)
  

Robert