Verve's 2008 reissue of New Orleans Nights, a
Louis Armstrong album originally released on Decca in 1957, is a compilation of recordings made in 1950 and 1954 by two different bands operating under the noble mantle of
Louis Armstrong and the All Stars. "Panama," "New Orleans Function," "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It," and "Bugle Call Rag" testify to the integrity of the earlier group, with
Armstrong leading
Jack Teagarden,
Barney Bigard,
Earl Hines,
Arvell Shaw, and
Cozy Cole, who is granted extra long drum breaks during the "Bugle Call Rag." On "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" and "Basin Street Blues,"
Tea is replaced by
Trummy Young,
Hines by
Billy Kyle, and
Cole by
Kenny John. Tenor saxophonist
Bud Freeman sat in on "Basin Street"; it's a pity that he didn't participate on "Barbecue," as the warmth and ease that characterizes this elegant update of Lil Hardin Armstrong's magnum opus would have fit
Freeman's personality like a favorite pair of argyles. ~ arwulf arwulf