Louis Armstrong - La Vie En Rose (2000) FLAC

Tracks

01. Some Day (You'll Be Sorry)
02. Fifty - Fifty Blues
03. A Song Was Born
04. Please Stop Playing Those Blues
05. Before Long
06. Lovely Weather We're Having
07. Maybe It's Because
08. I'll Keep The Lovelight Burning
09. La Vie En Rose
10. C'est Si Bon
11. That Lucky Old Sun
12. Blueberry Hill
13. A Kiss to Build a Dream On
14. I Get Ideas
15. Cold, Cold Heart
16. Because of You
17. I Laughed at Love
18. Takes Two to Tango
19. Your Cheatin' Heart
20. Congratulations to Someone

The 15th title in the History label's 15-CD box set Louis Armstrong and the tenth in the Past Perfect label's ten-CD box set Portrait (both imprints are part of the German firm the International Music Company), La Vie en Rose contains Armstrong's final 1947 recordings for RCA Victor, which are the earliest recordings with his small All-Stars band, then presents a selection of the recordings he made during his second stint at Decca Records in the late '40s and early '50s. Although the nine-piece band with whom he recorded on June 10, 1947, was not billed as the All-Stars, they did feature a similar approach to the All-Stars' and also featured Jack Teagarden, an important member of the All-Stars. Armstrong did get one formal All-Stars session in on October 16, 1947, before the start of the second recording ban that lasted most of 1948. That covers the first six tracks on this album; the other 14 find Armstrong singing light pop material for Decca, backed either by Sy Oliver's Orchestra or Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra and Chorus. Armstrong also plays trumpet on the Oliver tracks, but the focus is on his vocal interpretations and the result was a series of pop hits: "That Lucky Old Sun," "La Vie en Rose," "I Get Ideas," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," and "Blueberry Hill." This is the later Armstrong who is more of a musical personality than a jazz musician, but he brings personal, expressive interpretations to the material. RCA Victor and Universal Music claim copyright on these tracks in the U.S., but the box sets are readily available domestically at modest prices.

William Ruhlmann