Complete 1951 Pasadena Concerts Plus 5 Bonus Tracks

This release presents, for the fi rst time on a single set, Louis Armstrong s two long out of print 1951 concerts at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. For the first performance, taped on January 30 and originally issued (partially) on Satchmo at Pasadena (Decca DL8041), Louis is backed by the classic All Stars featuring Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Earl Hines, Arvell Shaw, and Cozy Cole, plus Velma Middleton on vocals for a few songs. By December 7 of the same year, when the second (and rarest) Pasadena concert took place, the same group was undergoing one of its various transitions, and Hines, Shaw and Cole had moved on. The concert is nevertheless outstanding, with the band focusing on the interaction of Louis with Teagarden and Bigard. It also presents, on the last three tracks, one of the very rare collaborations between Armstrong and the Les Brown orchestra. As a bonus, we have added a rarely heard Chicago broadcast by the original All Stars taped on July 5, 1951, before the band broke up.