The Great Summit - Armstrong / Ellington
When I was a kid we used to make up the ideal hockey team. The rules were simple, you can pick any player, from any era, and put them on the team. This album kind of reminds me of that, Louis Armstong on Trumpet, Duke Ellington on piano, Trummy Young on trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Mort Herbert on bass, and Danny Barcelona on drums. You really can’t do much better than that.
Not only does this album contain some of the best Jazz players of all time, not only do they play material from the best Jazz composers of all time (Ellington/Strayhorn), but the quality of the recording also happens to be excellent. This is a life like recording. With a decent stereo, and a couple of closed eyelids, you will think that the band is in the room with you. Its really that good.
This album comes as a single CD or a double CD pack, with out takes on the second CD. I have the latter, and would recommend it. The out takes are almost as good as the polished tracks and offer some insight into how these guys played and recorded. Armstrong seems to have two modes, 110% on and not playing, even when things aren’t going well, he gives his all. There is some humour from the sound engineer as he gets frustrated with the players, certainly not in awe of the them. Obviously a serious guy who, judging from the quality of the recording, was very good at what he did.
There is not a single track that I don’t relish. This is currently the favorite album in my collection. I only wish there were more. Other than Ellington, the band is the Armstrong All-Stars, so I am keeping my eyes open for that. The other All-Stars albums I have are mostly live performances, and, while good, the recording quality doesn’t really compare to this one.
Choosing favorite tracks on this CD is almost impossible, but if pressed, I would have to say “The Beautiful American” and “Azalea”.
The Beautiful American: 
Azalea:
Sound Quality: 10/10
Favorite Scale: 10/10
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