Although there is a myth to Aug 4th or July 4th being Louis Armstrong’s Birthday? No one knows which date to celebrate but Im going to take the time to celebrate it today! Selfishly I want his birthday to be within the same month as mine! LOL! I was first introduced to Louis Armstrong by my Father. Every Saturday he would play a host of great musicians. Whether in being Jazz, modern or traditional, Funk (soul) music was played all day on Saturday. I guess he said, finally my free day so Ill do what a I want. To my benefit, I grew up listening to great music as well as musicians peripherally. Until I got to Boston I really didnt appreciate how great Louis Armstrong was. Neither was I paying that much attention to the drums on the jazz records. Be mindful of the fact that Im listening to this as a 7 or 8 year old. The beat nor the texture of this music as well as the instruments didnt speak to me at all. Im impatiently waiting for the record player to change to Sly, James Brown, Motown artist...I didnt want to hear this old music! 10 years later, in college, a friend came by my apartment and brought a bag full of cassette tapes. As he entered, he yelled with a burst of excitement “I have the key to swing, I was like what in the hell are u talking about? As you can imagine some of the recordings on the cassette had either a crackling, hissing or a paper-cone type sound. However we tried to listen to each and every tape. Some of the clearer recordings was Muskrat Ramble, West End Blues. When I heard Louis Armstrong’s intro to West End Blues...It was clear, all pun intended, that this man is more than a Hello Dolly singer... The purity in his playing, sound of his horn was like no other to me! A fellow classmate hipped me to the fact that most trumpet players or musicians for that matter dont really hear Louis Armstrong. With so much ease he plays an octave above most horn players. Him along with other masterful artist stuck with the syndrome of flawlessly executing extraordinary abilities. This is where folks over look an artists superior ability as a normality and think its not that special! Well, it was and still is special! Just to play a pure note on the trumpet is no joke. Around my 4th or 5th semester, I had been attempting to learn Philly Joe solos along with copping Max Roach melodic solos. Yet this recording of Louis Armstrong at Symphony Hall got my attention big time. At 2mins in on the song, I think its called Steak Face maybe, (dont hold me to it) Big Sid Catlett’s drum solo begins. To start he’s playing mallets, 1/2 way past the 4min mark he switches to sticks...I challenge anyone to try and stop a body part from moving when he start to play on the snare! The swing rhythms along with the space he plays…man… I still havent heard a drummer groove that hard! From the first time I heard this solo, live at Symphony Hall change the way I solo. Not only hes constantly entertaining but his Mallet technique… Hes not only playing hip rhythms but the control and dynamics he has mastered is uncanny! Playing the Mallets, besides the Master Papa Jo, Max is the only other drummer Ive heard that touches me like Big Sid! Whenever I attempt to play mallets, which is few and far between now, I have and will always try to emulate this Master. Happy Birthday Louis Armstrong! Yes, you are the key to swing and thank you so much for having Big Sid play that night with you! Now I burst with excitement each and every time I hear your playing especially the Symphony Hall recording! All Respect! When you click on the link below there are 2 versions of the song. The famous symphony hall version is the one heard on the cassette… dippermouth.blogspot/2010/01/celebrate-big-sid-catletts-centennial.html
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:15:51 +0000
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