Consumer Guide Album

Louis Armstrong: Louis in London [Verve, 2024]
There are more Satchmo albums than any non-historian can keep track of much less comprehend. I have two definitive early box sets in my office and 19 single- or double-disc jobs on my living room A shelves, and no, I don't play them all. But now make that 21 with the two addressed here and yes, those I'll surely put on again, especially this single-disc 2024 copyright from July, 1968, which will surely be top 10 at year's end. It's one of Armstrong's last recordings—although having finally recovered from debilitating 1965 dental work, he couldn't resist touring behind 1967's career best-selling single "What a Wonderful World," which you can call corny only with Louis that word never applies. Yes, the then-recent Broadway and Hollywood specials "Mame" and "The Bare Necessities" are both kind of thin, but he nonetheless sings them like someone who's both happy and proud to be alive, which at 66 still means very much alive. Other standouts include the familiar "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" opener and the stone classic "Rockin' Chair." Armstrong continued to tour till the fall of 1968, rebuilt his strength for a spell, returned to the road in 1970, played the Waldorf in March, 1971, and died at 69 some four months later. He spent the last night of his life dubbing recordings to tape. I wonder whether any of them was up to the standard of this gem, but that would be too much to ask. A