SwingDJs

It's surprisingly hard (to me, anyway) to find solid danceable Louis Armstrong stuff -- a lot of his available recordings are either too early or too "pop" for lindy. There are a few tunes on Ella and Louis and Ella and Louis Again that work (They Can't Take That Away, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, maybe Can't We Be Friends) but not that many. One Louis CD I have with some good danceable tracks is The Essence Of Louis Armstrong, a Columbia sampler.

Any suggestions?

(edit: what, can't trust us with HTML priviledges? )

This is a recommendation I got indirectly from Reuben - he played "Drop me off in Harlem" at the Harlem DJ battle from this album.

I really like it, I play several tracks from it.

The other album I play a lot from is Ken Burns Jazz Collection: Louis Armstrong

Satch Plays Fats: The Music of Fats Waller
Love this CD, several danceables, favorite is "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby..."


Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
Another nice CD.


The California Concerts
I also like this CD, 4 disc set.

Yes, you won't find the concentration of danceable tunes on these CD's as you would with, say, a Count Basie CD. However, they are certainly there if you give a listen.

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Sweet stuff.

oh yea, forgot that CD. That's another nice one. Love the Roulette label.

There are 3 songs I reguarly use in my sets:

Drop me off in Harlem: Armstong & Ellington
Don't get around much anymore: Armstrong & Ellington
Moon Song: Armstong and Oscar Peterson


Once every few blue moons I might put in something with Ella and Louis.

The W.C. Handy album is great.

Also, "Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson" has some great softer, slower Lindy tunes between 90-130 BPM. "Sweet Moonsong" (or "Moonsong" as CDDB lists it) is one of my favorite swing songs, altogether.

hell, my major problem is having to choose which satch songs are getting play each time i dj.

i love satch.

kalman

any of the Hot five and seven recordings....

No agenda here , but a nice compilation is "Louis armstrong: an American Icon" (3 discs):
From Allmusic.com:
This three-CD set brings together recorded highlights from the last 25 years of Armstrong's career, starting with his return to a small sextet from his big-band recordings and his unprecedented run of hit recordings in the pop-jazz vein. Rather than only utilizing the many masters Armstrong cut for Decca over the years (Hip-O and Decca both draw from the same MCA master pool), compiler George Avakian also pulls in rarities and hits recorded for RCA Victor, Columbia, Verve, Roulette, Kapp, Mercury, ABC-Paramount, as well as Gene Norman's GRD and GNP Crescendo imprints. Disc one covers the years 1946 to 1954 and finds Pops moving away from his big band sound in favor of small groups like his All Stars and also moving smoothly into a string of jazz-pop chart hits including "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," "That Lucky Old Sun," "You Can't Lose a Broken Heart" (with Billie Holiday), "Gone Fishin'" (with Bing Crosby) and "A Kiss to Build a Dream On." Disc two covers 1954 to 1956 and is a delightful collection of Louis and the All Stars at their very best. In addition to the hit "Mack the Knife," "When You're Smiling," and "I Surrender, Dear," hot live versions of "Basin Street Blues," "Blueberry Hill" and "Lazy River," the disc also includes some fine duets with Ella Fitzgerald. The final disc takes recordings from 1956 to 1968 and finds Louis firmly in pop-music territory. Tunes like "Hello Dolly," "Mame," "What a Wonderful World," "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "Georgia On My Mind" are, oddly, the tunes that modern-day listeners will always associate with Satchmo — and rightly so. No jazz artist crossed over more times than Louis Armstrong, and never once was it a musical sellout. With Satchmo, it was all of one piece, and this excellent three-disc set is a great place to start digging a large chunk of his genius. — Cub Koda

PS:
I love the California concerts too!

What do people think of this CD?

You can listen to previews of the whole thing in the ITunes store...haven't looked to see where else.

I like it, but is it one of those things where I could save myself some money and get equally good recordings of the same songs in a box set?

you may want to try: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004YTYQ/

i'm sure it's great, although i haven't heard it and therefore can not vouch for its danceability. however you have no reason not to get it: it's $14 for two cds and it's remastered by john r. t. davies who's famous for how awesome he is

Greg Avakian wrote:No agenda here ,

* * * compiler George Avakian also pulls in rarities and hits recorded for RCA Victor, Columbia, Verve, Roulette, Kapp, Mercury, ABC-Paramount, as well as Gene Norman's GRD and GNP Crescendo imprints.

Why not plug the WC Handy album while you're at it? (Also produced by Greg's Dad, and which, as I wrote above, is a favorite of mine).

Seriously, you've mentioned in other threads how your Dad doesn't talk to you much about his career, but I'd be hitting him up for advice and war stories all the time if he were my Dad. You should be proud (and probably are).

I like the Handy album too, I just think American Icon has a better selection and -since it's a retrospective- shows a broader spectrum of the Armstrong sound and history.

My dad doesn't dance,so I'd rather be on my own there.

SirScratchAlot wrote:any of the Hot five and seven recordings....

Haha. Rad.