• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

New Single From Buddy Guy ‘Gunsmoke Blues’ ft. Jason Isbell

August 11, 2022

From Zero to Infinity – The Steve Kimock Odyssey

August 11, 2022

Watch Trombone Shorty Perform ‘I’m Standing Here’ From New Album ‘Lifted’

August 11, 2022

Rory Block Set to Release New Album ‘Ain’t Nobody Worried’

August 11, 2022
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»Opinion»Revisiting Louis Armstrong’s ‘West End Blues’ on his Birthday
Opinion

Revisiting Louis Armstrong’s ‘West End Blues’ on his Birthday

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971)
C.C. RiderBy C.C. RiderAugust 4, 2022Updated:August 4, 20221 Comment2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Louis Armstrong during a special presentation of Grammy winning songs and performances from the 9th Annual Grammy Awards in 1967 -- (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

C.C. Rider spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Chicago, 1928. Louis Armstrong was 26 when he walked into the studio with his band, the Hot Five. The young Armstrong had been playing and recording for a few years, and this session didn’t seem like it would be any different. The band would wax a few tracks and that’d be it.

Not this time. Louis had a particular song in mind. Written and recorded originally by his mentor, the man who’d really taught him to play, cornet player and bandleader Joe “King” Oliver. The song? “West End Blues.” King Oliver’s version is great, but what Louis Armstrong did with that song changed history. Satchmo took “West End Blues” and blew it out of the water.

Armstrong’s vocal section is one of the earliest examples of scat singing. And of course there’s his trumpet. Technical devastation only matched by sheer beauty and emotionality. Its opening cadenza—a 15-second trumpet solo—is one of the most influential and inimitable solos in Jazz history.

Suddenly, jazz wasn’t just dance hall entertainment or garden-variety folk music anymore. Now jazz could be considered the highest form of artistic expression.

Support Louis Armstrong House Museum

C.C. Rider Louis Armstrong The Bluesmobile
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleExclusive World Premiere Video From Breezy Rodio ‘Underground Blues’
Next Article Review/Gallery: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram With Support From Blue Milk at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
C.C. Rider
  • Website
  • Twitter

C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Related Posts

A Little Traveling Music – From Route 66 to Winnemucca, Life Is A Highway

June 23, 2022

Can’t Nobody Sing Soulful Blues Like Solomon Burke

March 21, 2022

Looking Over My Shoulder: An Op-Ed by R&B/Rock ‘n’ Roll Originator Lloyd Price

March 9, 2022

Life Goes On – A Different Look at The Day The Music Died

February 3, 2022

Comments are closed.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.