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Armstrong got back to what he did best in the later 1940s, having recorded with the likes of the Mills Brothers during his tenure with Decca earlier in the decade. The two sets heard here are broadcasts from the latter half of the period.
Half of the music was recorded within a month of the 1947 NYC Town Hall date, now regarded as a landmark in Armstrong's musical life, at the Winter Gardens in the same city. It perhaps goes without saying that he was in form just as imperious for this programme. His trumpet lead on `Muskrat Ramble' is that of a man steeped in the music of his place of birth, while his brief solo is a model of economy even as he shouts from the rooftops.
In a duo with pianist Dick Cary on `Dear Old Southland' Armstrong is a model of economy, making sure every note tells even as he pares things down to the bare essentials.
He's joined by trombonist Jack Teagarden throughout both sets, and for all the routines they worked out to the last degree over the course of their long musical association not a turn is sterile as this relatively early stage.
Armstrong composed `Someday You Will Be Sorry' himself and again that exquisite lead embodies the music of New Orleans.
A set like this exemplifies why some people are as obsessive about Armstrong's music as others are about Elvis Presley's. Both men transformed popular culture after all, so the attention is justified.
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