Album Review

At four discs, One Hundred Anniversaire is a very detailed collection of Louis Armstrong's music. Although it is by no means a complete collection, there is quite a lot of music here to digest, especially when taken into consideration that most of his biggest hits are not even on the album. What we get instead is a fairly solid collection of Armstrong performing many popular standards ("You Rascal You," "Georgia on My Mind," "Just a Gigolo") along with many of his own compositions ("Me and Brother Bill," "Back O' Town Blues"). As with any collection this large, there are definitely more than a few songs that fall flat. But whether it be Armstrong's charming voice or amazing horn playing skills, even these songs are still pretty listenable. What hurts this collection the most is the lack of signature Armstrong songs, from "What a Wonderful World" to "That Lucky Old Sun." The closest the album comes is "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)," a fantastic song that Louis made his own. Another problem (although one that haunts many a jazz collection) is the varying degrees of sound quality that the listener must sit through. At times it can be a real distraction, making some really good songs far less desirable. But outside of these minor problems, the collection is still quite good. Just be warned that there is some filler here; this is by no means an excellent collection, just a good one. ~ Bradley Torreano, Rovi