West End Blues

Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five · 1928

Context

Recorded by Armstrong in 1928, this King Oliver theme opens with a long unaccompanied trumpet cadenza, of a rhythmic freedom unusual for the time. The wordless vocal that follows influenced singers such as Billie Holiday. The 1928 sessions shift the center of jazz from collective playing to the improvising soloist.

In the genealogy of jazz

This track belongs to Chicago. Among the origins and influences of Chicago: New Orleans jazz, Dixieland (ODJB, 1917).

By the same artist

• Weather Bird (1928)
• Potato Head Blues (1927)
• Heebie Jeebies (1926)
• Muskrat Ramble (1926)
• When the Saints Go Marching In (1938)
• Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans (1947)

Sources

• EN: West End Blues
• EN: Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions
• EN: Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five

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