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Yes, it's no joke.
This is from the great Avant-Garde Jazz site Destination: Out
"We tend to think of Armstrong and Sanders as inhabiting entirely different universes, but one of the interesting things about the late 60s and early 70s was the generational overlap of so many key jazz figures. But rarely have worlds collided in more unexpected and almost hallucinatory ways.
The mere concept of this track smacks of the most clueless sort of commercial pandering. For some reason, it brings to mind Jackie Gleason’s LSD trip in Skidoo (check out the Youtube clip here). Did Louis really need this so late in his career? Initially, we wondered if producer Bob Thiele didn’t foist this track on Armstrong at gunpoint.
But… but… but… the surprising thing is that the music isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s an interesting concoction. There’s a solid arrangement by Oliver Nelson and check out the list of stellar musicians above. And to his credit, Louis doesn’t seem nearly as out of place as you might imagine
LA, vocals; Leon Thomas, vocals, percussion; James Spaulding, flute; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Sam Brown, guitar; Frank Owens, piano; Richard Davis, bass; George Duvivier, bass; Gene Golden, congas; Bernard Purdie, drums, plus strings."
The Creator Has A Master Plan
4 comments:
Astounding! And you're right, it does sound good, yodeling apart. After all, with all these names mixed, something good was bound to happen.
It's funny that you post this, my band at the University of New Orleans played this tonight with local singer Leah Chase, and we actually only were going from the armstrong version. It got taped and recorded, i'll try to figure out a way to get it online.
Just a note: The yodeling is a signature sound of vocalist Leon Thomas.
I love that. Pops rules. Now let me hear his guest spot with Santana!
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