The Complete Louis Armstrong and the Dukes of Dixieland (Essential Jazz Classics, three CDs). The greatest jazz musician of the twentieth century teamed up with a banjo-and-tuba Dixieland septet in 1959 to knock off an early-stereo LP of very standard New Orleans standards. It should have been an infallible recipe for ennui, but Armstrong caught fire, and the result was one of the liveliest and most exciting albums of his middle age, followed a year later by a similarly satisfying sequel. Both albums have now been reissued in their entirety on this three-CD set, augmented by twenty alternate takes. Take a taste of “Bourbon Street Parade” and see if it doesn’t make you feel like cooking up some of that good ol’ red beans and rice (TT).
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
