Photo courtest of aussiegall on Flickr.
The musicians convened in the RCA studios in New York, and although he managed to smile for photographers, Louis was uncomfortable. His lip was down, and worse, he was recording material that we new to him. Duke, meanwhile, was suffering from a persistent headache. No matter. Their performances were perfect—there is no other word to describe them. Louis sang and blew his way through Ellington standards, “C Jam Blues,” “I’m Just a Lucky So and So,” “Cottontail,” “Drop Me Off in Harlem,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” The session closed with “Azalea,” a song Duke had written years before, thinking of Louis, a tune mixing memory and desire. Duke had recorded some of these numbers dozens of time, but with Louis on board, they sounded fresh and different. He treated every syllable and note, no matter how simple, as if it contained essential truths, and in the process, demonstrated his uncanny knack for transforming familiar material into something special. Fatigue and acceptance of mortality are present in his voice, but so is a lifetime of experience. When he was done, Louis didn’t bother to asses the quality of the recordings, which resulted in two albums. To him, it was just another recording date, perhaps best forgotten. Late that afternoon, he was back on the bus, nursing his sore chops with ointments and salves, as he hurred to another live performance.
— Laurance Bergreen. Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life. New York: Broadway Books, 1997.
Song “Azalea” written by Duke Ellington and performed by Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Recorded in 1961, this is the only session where two greats performed togehter. You can hear the whole session on the recording, The Great Summit.
Duke Ellington, piano | Louis Armstrong, trumpet & vocals | Mort Herbert, bass | Danny Barcelona, drums
