ARMSTRONG, L & ELLINGTON, D - Great Summit: Recording.. (Sealed) (2LP)

TWO ORIGINAL ALBUMS INCL. 3 BONUS TRACKS / 180GR. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were two of the main stems of jazz. Any way you look at it, just about everything that’s ever happened in this music leads directly -- or indirectly -- back to them. Both men were born on the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, and each became established as a leader during the middle ‘20s. Although their paths had crossed from time to time over the years, nobody in the entertainment industry had ever managed to get Armstrong and Ellington into a recording studio to make an album together. In 1961, producer Bob Thiele achieved what should be regarded as one of his greatest accomplishments; he organized and supervised a studio session, using a sextet combining Duke Ellington with Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars. This group included ex-Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard, ex-Jimmie Lunceford swingto- bop trombonist Trummy Young, bassist Mort Herbert, and drummer Danny Barcelona. The music resulting from Thiele’s inspired experiment is outstanding and utterly essential. That means everybody ought to hear this album at least once, and many will want to hear it again and again all the way through, for this is one of the most intriguing confluences in all of recorded jazz.