Louis Armstrong in Paris 1934

 It could be argued that no recording by the great Louis Armstrong can really be considered obscure. Most of his records have remained almost continuously in print - reissued over and over again. But some of his recordings have remained elusive, at least comparatively speaking. A latter-day example is the 1967 Brunswick session that produced two singles, including a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream." Those two singles have never been issued on an album, as far as I can tell. Speaking for myself, I find the whole session to be a delight, and I'm glad I have the 45s.

Among Armstrong's early recordings, perhaps the most obscure is the session he made for French Brunswick in Paris in 1934. These are Louis' only records between his last Victor session of the 1930s (April, 1933) and the first session for Decca (October, 1935). Without the Paris sides, we'd have a two-and-a-half year gap with no Louis Armstrong records!

The Paris sides have been reissued, in whole or part, quite a few times over the years, but often on obscure labels of questionable legality. In any case, I think it's worth posting this music again. My source is the first U.S. issue of this music: a Vox album from 1947. One of the Vox label's specialties was stateside issues of music recorded in Europe, so the Paris recordings fit that bill perfectly. Unfortunately, Vox pressings are not of the highest quality, and tend to be slightly noisy. And the session is not quite complete - two takes of "St. Louis Blues" survived, but Vox only issued the second take.

The band Louis assembled for a string of European appearances and for this session has few stars, (only pianist Herman Chittison might be worthy of that designation), but it's a fine band for that place and that time. The musicians were from various parts of the world, but were all part of the African diaspora; all were living in Europe at the time. I wonder if Louis felt a special connection to alto saxophonist Peter DuConge, a fellow New Orleanian; at the time DuConge was living in Paris and married to Bricktop, the famous entertainer and saloon owner.

For the record here's the band:

Louis Armstrong - trumpet, vocal; Jack Hamilton, Leslie Thompson - trumpet; Lionel Guimarez - trombone; Peter DuConge - clarinet and alto saxophone; Henry "Hy" Tyree - alto saxophone; Alfred Pratt - tenor saxophone; Herman Chittison - piano; Maceo Jefferson - guitar; German Arago - bass; Ollie Tines - drums

The session took place in the Paris Polydor studio on November 7, 1934. The tracks are presented in the order they appear in the Vox three-disc album rather than the original recording order. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was originally issued in two parts, filling both sides of the third record; I have joined the two parts into one.

Tiger Rag (also issued as Super Tiger Rag)

St. Louis Blues (take two)

Song of the Vipers

Will You, Won't You Be My Baby?

On the Sunny Side of the Street

The Low Back'd Car is Back

 I have finally repaired the link to the recording of James McCool singing "The Low Back'd Car" from 1905. With this repair, all previously broken links in this blog are now working.

You can take a ride in The Low Back'd Car here.