Plays W.C. Handy: Complete Edition

Plays W.C. Handy: Complete Edition

EU-only two CD set. This release presents, for the first time ever on a single set, all of the music issued from the perennial Louis Armstrong LP celebrating the music of W. C. Handy: Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy. To the eleven tracks that constituted the original LP release, we have added all of the alternate, rehearsal, and partially alternate tracks ever issued, many of which have been long unavailable. Louis is backed here by one of the best formations of his All Stars, with such outstanding musicians as Trummy Young, Barney Bigard and Billy Kyle. As a further bonus, we have added Louis' earliest readings of W. C. Handy tunes (backing Bessie Smith in 1925), as well as alternative studio recordings of 'St. Louis Blues' and 'Ole Miss', and his wonderful 1956 live recording of 'St. Louis Blues' with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein.