Newk Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 The Louis Armstrong filmed version of these songs have always been some of my favorite footage. I think it was recorded during a European tour in the early 30's. Is there more available than just Dinah and I Cover the Waterfront? Is there a DVD available of these complete performances and any additional footage from the same date? Thanks! Quote
Lazaro Vega Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 I think those were done in Denmark. Quote
Christiern Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 During his 1933 visit to Copenhagen, Louis appeared in a Danish feature film, København-Kalundborg. He performed 3 numbers, accompanied by a big band: "I Cover the Waterfront", "Dinah," and "Tiger Rag." Fortunately, the Danish film people decided to shoot it live rather than have Louis dub in his vocal--as was often done in those days. Quote
Kalo Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 These clips are the shit! I've seen them excerpted in Gary Giddins's Armstrong documentary. Beautiful stuff. Is here somewhere to get all three of them unedited? Armstrong was so spontaneous that it's almost painful to watch him try to lip-synch, as he was forced to do in other contexts. The Danes were very smart to film him live, providing us with a priceless document of him in his prime. In my memory, that clip of him singing "Dinah," with his eyes closed and as far from "mugging" as can be imagined, is one of the most beautiful things ever commited to film. Quote
jazzbo Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 They are reproduced on cd in their entirety on "Louis Armstrong in Scandinavia Volume One" on Storyille. The three volumes in this series so far are awesome! I know of only one full video appearance of these: Yazoo's "At the Jazz Band Ball" which is a great hour of early jazz film. Quote
brownie Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 Louis Armstrong stage presence on those short films is just awesome! Too bad Satchmo has only a pretty heavy band to back him! Quote
jazzbo Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 Actually, I think that band does a great job behind him. He's simply fascinating to watch! Quote
jazzbo Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 (edited) One tune of the three is presented in its entirety as an extra feature in the Ken Burns Jazz dvd set, disc two. Another is available on the dvd within the Hip-O Billie Holiday set. Edited January 10, 2006 by jazzbo Quote
Dave James Posted January 10, 2006 Report Posted January 10, 2006 (edited) This is my very favorite part of the Burns documentry. In one of the pre-flight interviews aired before the initial broadcast of the series, Burns talks a little bit about the first time he and his crew saw this footage. He said they were absolutely dumfounded. So was I. Up over and out. Edited January 10, 2006 by Dave James Quote
Newk Posted January 25, 2006 Author Report Posted January 25, 2006 Yazoo's "At the Jazz Band Ball" is available through Netflix. As Lon said, it has the Louis Armstrong performances I was looking for. It also has some great Bill Robinson, and more! I also pick up "Louis Armstrong in Scandinavia Vol. 1" and "Plays W.C. Handy". This weekend I may get a couple Fats Waller cd's. Can anyone recommend "Piano Masterworks Vol. 1 & 2 on EPM? They are easily available and have some of his early piano work. Is this a good source for these recordings? Thanks for the response, Lon and all! Quote
Kalo Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 I'll have to check out that Yazoo disc. Quote
AllenLowe Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 as I recall (and I'm not 100 percent certain) - that Yazoo has great video but very destructive noise reduction done to the sound - Quote
jazzbo Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 I haven't seen or heard the DVD. The sound on the VHS isn't too bad if you ask me. Quote
tatifan Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 as I recall (and I'm not 100 percent certain) - that Yazoo has great video but very destructive noise reduction done to the sound - It's not so much the noise reduction, as the phony stereo and distortion added by doing this stereo spread. Still, it's an essential disc. I should make a seperate thread, but I was thrilled to find Roots and Rhythm still had a few copies of the fantastic FORTE label 3 cd set of the Armstrong/ Henderson material, remastered (superbly) by J. R. T. Davies in the early 90s. This has been OOP for a while, so head to their web site! It's listed in newsletter #134. Quote
jazzbo Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 on the Forte set! The same Danish material sounds awful on the Storyville cd really. . . . I don't have a stereo vcr going so didn't notice fake stereo on the tape. . . but the sound on the cd is almost as if it was dolbied and nondolbied about five times on a six generation dube. . . . Still Armstrong and band can be heard and the music is so wonderful. Quote
Newk Posted January 26, 2006 Author Report Posted January 26, 2006 I thought that the audio and video on the Yazoo DVD was decent. I heard it through my tv speakers but considering the age of the films, I was impressed. Quote
MomsMobley Posted February 13, 2016 Report Posted February 13, 2016 i'll be glad when you're dead you rascal you ... it's a celebration! *** Quote
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