Hot Fives & Sevens
| Hot Fives & Sevens | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Box set by Louis Armstrong | ||||
| Released | August 22, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | Nov 12, 1925 – Apr 5, 1930 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 276:23 | |||
| Label | JSP | |||
| Louis Armstrong chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz |
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Hot Fives & Sevens is a 2000 box set collection of recordings made by American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five, Hot Seven, and other groups between 1925 and 1930. First released on JSP Records on 22 August 2000, the set was subsequently reissued on Definitive in 2001. A four-disc compilation, the set has received a "crown" as an author's pick in The Penguin Guide to Jazz and is also included in the book's "core collection" recommended for jazz fans.Allmusic concurs that it is "beyond indispensable", suggesting that "you can't have a Louis Armstrong collection without this historic set" or "any kind of respectable jazz collection" Alternatively, Ben Ratliff, writing in 2002, preferred Columbia's release The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings.
The box set consists of four compact discs. The first and second discs, and part of the third, comprise the Hot Five and Hot Seven recording sessions from 1925 through 1928. The third and fourth discs compile tracks recorded by Carroll Dickerson's Savoyagers, Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five (with Earl Hines) between 1928 and 1930.
The collection has generally earned praise. Music critic Cub Koda, writing for Allmusic, notes that "Although this material has been around the block several times before -- and continues to be available in packages greatly varying in transfer quality -- this is truly the way to go, and certainly the most deluxe packaging this material has ever received with the greatest sound retrieval yet employed."The Penguin Guide to Jazz included Hot Fives & Sevens in its "Core Collection," and assigned its "crown" accolade to the album, along with a four-star rating (of a possible four stars). (The first three discs from this set, JSP CD 312 – 314, individually received four-star ratings, and are also included in the Core Collection.) Penguin editors Richard Cook and Brian Morton remarked, "John R. T. Davies's remastering for JSP is superlative. Armstrong scholars argue over whether the Columbia 'definitive' edition – mystifyingly delayed – is superior, but it's hard to see anyone being disappointed with either." 2008's Jazz : The Basics is not as effusive, suggesting that other remasters may sound better and other packaging may be more complete, but the lower price of this set made it "an attractive package for recordings that are a necessary part of any CD collection."Ben Ratliff, by contrast, found the collection only a "tolerable alternative to Columbia's muffled-sounding initial CD reissue", but preferred Columbia Legacy's The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (C4K 63257) for its greater "bright and present" sound.
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