Louis Armstrong on Duke's PARIS BLUES

[ghost of miles]

No personnel listings come with the 1997 Rykodisc re-issue of Ellington's PARIS BLUES, although the promotional wrapper says, "Louis Armstrong appears on one track. Tres cool." Yeah, yeah... to my ears, it sounds as if he's on two, both "Wild Man Moore" (the name of the character he plays in the movie) and "Battle Royal." Can anybody else confirm that?

[brownie]

The recording of the soundtrack to 'Paris Blues' was a pretty complicated operation. The Dr. Klaus Stratemann huge book 'Duke Ellington, Day By Day and Film By Film' has seven full pages on the film and the recordings around it.

To sum up:

Armstrong took part in the recording of 'Wild Man Moore' and 'Battle Royal' in Paris on December 14, 1960.

Musicians on the first tune included Jack Butler on trumpet and drummer Moustache Galepides plus probably bass player Michel Gaudry.

For 'Battle Royal', the musicians included Billy Byers, Guy Lafitte, guitarist Jimmy Gourley and a full band of mostly French musicians.

Most of the rest of the music was recorded May 1, 2 and 3, 1961 in New York.

Collective personnel listed in the book is:

Willie Cook, Eddie Mullens, Cat Anderson, Clark Terry, Ray Nance, tp, Britt Woodman, Lawrence Brown, Juan Tizol, Murray McEachern, Lou Blackburn, tb, Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Oliver Nelson, Paul Gonsalves, Babe Clark, Harry Carney, reeds, Harry Smiles, oboe, Les Spann, fl/g, Aaron Bell, b, and a drum crew of Jimmy Johnson, Sonny Greer, Max Roach, Dave Jackson and Philly Joe Jones! That drum section must have been something!