Louis Armstrong 1920's recordings in audiophile quality*

For the time....
Don't know if this has been posted, but this sounds amazing...at least on my system.

Unbelievably clear recording of Louis Armstrong from 1929 »

 

A wonderful improvement. Once again indicating that the lowest-generation source has the best quality sound.

It would be a wonderful if these companies dug their archives to produce reissue series sourced from the 78 "mother records". It would be even better if these series were to be released without lots of NR and compression to ruin the great sound. We can only live in hope.

 

Thanks for that! I have a Lonnie Johnson test pressing (modern manufacture from original parts) that's similarly spooky.

 

Just heard about these via Open Culture and came on here to post..Amazing, just amazing. Why isn't this a bigger thread?!?!? If those two songs can sound that good thru YouTube, i mean geeze, where's the kickstarter for more of these to come out?!?!?

 

My favorite version of this classic Fats Waller ditty - sounds awesome!

 

ricknbkr, where did you find that? I'd love to get a download of that. Amazing. Love the Satchmo.

 

Mind = Blown.

 

It was posted on Facebook

 

Thanks. I saw it there. But as a video. Was trying to get a clean uncompressed download link. Or news about whether a new album is coming out based on the metal disc. Couldn't find much. Do you know anything? Or anybody?

 

There is a bit more than necessary noise reduction on that transfer, but it still sounds much cleaner and fuller than the same recording on the famous JSP box set. Also, it is a bit slower here than on the JSP.

 

I hear ya! The answer is there's little interest.

 

Yeah, show biz, as wise and prudent as it's ever been right from the start, eh?!?!?

I remember hearing about those being destroyed before. But there's always some part of me, imagining there being some employee (there had to be at least one working there) working out some deal with a janitor or something to sneak a good chunk of them out. If only to be able to tell the kids/grandkids later on what daddy used to make. Just hanging my hopes on a rabid Armstrong outlier somewheres out there i guess...

...life is but a dream....

 

Very nice , but in terms of performance I think the 1950's recording is better.



Peace and love✌

 

I've had the JSP for 20+ years and will have to dig it out to compare. I remember there was a lot of back-and-forth whether the subsequent (1997?) Sony versions were an improvement over the JSP. I can't recall what their sources were; probably acetates and not this metal disc. Which begs the question: if the metal is indeed better, why was it not used? I'm guessing licensing or unavailability.

 

I am pretty sure Sony still has many of the metal discs for Louis. The problem is they're probably in worse condition than this copy, sourced out early on to Germany for Odeon Records and probably not as overused as the US copy. Nevertheless, Sony did use better sources for much of the Louis material for their own set. The reason why the John R.T. Davies, sourced from 78s, still sounds better than Sony's is the restoration work and the mastering decisions. Sony used audible noise reduction and didn't make the right decisions restoration-wise. The JSP set still sounds more natural and for that reason people still prefer it.

Take this very example here, the topic of this thread. Sure, the source sounds great. But be sure that Nick Dellow did a lot of thoughtful restoration work and digital clean-up on it. So it all comes down not only to the sources you have, but to the processing you do.

(By the way, liceninsing is not an issue here. Sony owns this Louis material. The question is, are they willing to go the extra length to try to source metal parts not only from their own archives, but from those overseas as well? Which can be a pointless excercise, of course, but sometimes fruitful, as when the UK tape copy of "A Love Supreme" was found, which was highly superior to anything that still existed in the USA.)

 

Here is that glorious video, now properly embedded:



Louis Armstrong - Ain't Misbehavin' (1929) — sourced from Okeh/Odeon metal mother

 

There's a second one as well:



Louis Armstrong - Knee Drops (1928) — sourced form Okeh/Odeon metal mother

 

I have this recording and noticed its re-mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray. I'll have to give it a spin later.

Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars - Satch Plays Fats: A Tribute To The Immortal Fats Waller By Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars »

 

Doubtless of interest to our host, these transfers of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and another of a larger group were transferred from metal mothers sent to Odeon in Germany. Probably the cleanest sounding transfers of this music we'll ever hear:

Hot Five recording of "Knee Drops", Chicago, July 5 1928:

 

Here's the Louis Armstrong Orchestra with "Ain't Misbehaving" from NYC, July 19, 1929:

 

And here's the article in "Off Beat" about these recordings:

An astonishingly clear recording of Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra performing “Ain’t Misbehavin'” has surfaced on YouTube. According to the video’s description, the track comes from a metal “mother record” that New York City’s Okeh Records sent to Germany’s Odeon Records for their pressings.

Another similar recording of Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five performing “Knee Drops” in Chicago in 1928 was also posted a few days later. Evidently, both of these new versions were transferred to a digital format by sound engineer Nick Dellow.

Considering the poor quality of most early jazz records, these tracks are a rare treat for any fan of the pioneering New Orleans trumpet master.

Crystal Clear Louis Armstrong Recordings Surface »

 

That Hot Five recording sounds awesome.