"One for the Road:" Louis Armstrong

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 6, 2011 9:40PM

Forty years ago today Louis Armstrong passed away. Most fans of jazz and music in general know that Satchmo started to build the early versions of his Hot Fives and Hot Sevens in Chicago. Armstrong's earliest recordings were on race labels such as Okeh, which is where the song "Gutbucket Blues" featured here comes.

"Gutbucket Blues" is also notable for being the second known recording to feature Armstrong's voice. Here he isn't singing. Instead, Armstrong does a call and response with his bandmates, including his wife Lil Hardin.