Louis Armstrong on Mosaic

[Chanders]

Hi all, I am more or less a lurker on this board but have found it very valuable especially as it offers a different take on a lot of aspects of recorded jazz than my usual forums (Reddit and the one that shall not be named but if inder the banner of a well-known engineer). 
 

I’ve been building up my Mosaic collection the last year or so and it’s time to combine that with the goal of broadening my Louis Armstrong holdings past 1934. I have the complete Hot Fives and Sevens of course and the Portrait of the Artist sampler box. If you were going to pick your first of the four main Mosaic boxes which would you start with? Let’s assume for the sake of argument you might not ever have the money or room to get another. Finally, all of the boxes are OOP and expensive but let’s just ignore that for now. 
 

Whar would you buy first?

[JSngry]

Probably the Decca All Stars set? But the other Decca set contends.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

Those Armstrong sets are kind of pricey right now, no idea why.  But if you set up notifications on ebay, discogs, and what have you, and watch for a while you can generally get them for the original price ($15-$17 per disk), or less.  For ex in 2022 I picked up #146 The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars, for $78 (box, book, the works, shipped).

Two are available on spotify (and presumably as downloads from the usual sources): 

Louis Armstrong The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946): https://open.spotify.com/album/4ePSSZbkcek6jALbNtztI8? 

Louis Armstrong Columbia And RCA Victor Live Recordings Of Louis Armstrong And The All Stars:

Vol. 1: https://open.spotify.com/album/7GwSrFicvM59OYCAFsDB4q

Vol. 2: https://open.spotify.com/album/5oPUTne7UdDcLUsRKpODvW

Vol. 3: https://open.spotify.com/album/6caWTu3uR6ykaFv1asaqwG

Edited May 10 by Stompin at the Savoy

[John L]

I would give a strong recommendation for the Decca sessions of 1935-1946.   Maybe some of the chosen songs leave something to be desired, but this is Louis Armstrong in his absolute youthful prime giving mostly timeless interpretations of jazz and pop standards.  

Much of his later work with the All Stars is also fine, but I would it a notch below this. 

There is also a box of the complete RCA recordings (not on Mosaic), which are absolutely essential.  You already have a taste of that on the Portrait of the Artist box. 

Edited May 10 by John L

[Chuck Nessa]

3 hours ago, John L said:

I would give a strong recommendation for the Decca sessions of 1935-1946.   Maybe some of the chosen songs leave something to be desired, but this is Louis Armstrong in his absolute youthful prime giving mostly timeless interpretations of jazz and pop standards.  

Much of his later work with the All Stars is also fine, but I would it a notch below this. 

There is also a box of the complete RCA recordings (not on Mosaic), which are absolutely essential.  You already have a taste of that on the Portrait of the Artist box. 

Agree.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

Here's the booklet for the Complete Decca Sessions: https://musicbrainz.org/release/ba5d4236-388e-4dc8-9adf-ed38c4c08b69/cover-art  . The set is sold as a (cd quality in some places) download under the name The Decca Singles. 

I got a complete copy of the box set on ebay in 2022 for $127.

Edited May 11 by Stompin at the Savoy

[gmonahan]

I'd agree with Jim about the Decca All Stars set, mostly because of the collaborations with Jack Teagarden, though he is on a little of the Victor/Columbia live set as well. There are a lot of jewels in the earlier Decca Big Bands set, but some dross as well. But that's Mosaic. You get it all.

[ghost of miles]

My vote's for the Decca 1935-46 set, followed closely by the Decca All-Stars box.

[Chanders]

Many thanks to everyone who weighed in. In the end, price made a decision for me. I managed to find  a copy of the Big Band Decca set for $19 a disc but also from a seller in Italy, which is where I live and often help me pull the trigger on bigger purchases. Looking forward to listen in tandem with the 2020 Ricky Riccardi book :-).

[king ubu]

Late to the party, but the Fremeaux series of three CD sets is great – reason enough for me to skip the 1935–46 Decca Mosaic, actually. Fremeaux is about as complete as my Armstrong collection needs be, for the period they cover (Vol. 15, 1948/49 is the final one, I think).

[miles65]

Yes vol. 15 is the last. The editor Daniel Nevers died in 2022.

[EKE BBB]

On 5/29/2026 at 8:01 PM, king ubu said:

Late to the party, but the Fremeaux series of three CD sets is great – reason enough for me to skip the 1935–46 Decca Mosaic, actually. Fremeaux is about as complete as my Armstrong collection needs be, for the period they cover (Vol. 15, 1948/49 is the final one, I think).

I'll second that!

[Big Beat Steve]

I see there are plenty of ways to get the Armstrong Decca collection of 1935-46 "as complete as needs be".  

Including one for anyone who might still fancy vinyl:
I've downloaded and printed out the scans of the booklet to the Mosiac set and will use  them as background info to my VINYL series on (German) MCA Coral: "Back in New York Vols. 1 to 8" and "Back in L.A. Vols. 1-2". They will do nicely for me as those alternates of the big band recordings do not look that essential to me. Comparing the contents of the Mosaic box and of these LPs, it is mostly the collaboration of Louis Armstrong with the Mills Brothers that is not included in the MCA LPs. So the next best bet will be to be on the lookout for a copy of the below one in the special offer bins. At any rate this one has what seems to be most important to me:  
https://www.discogs.com/release/4739806-Louis-And-The-Mills-Brothers-Louis-And-The-Mills-Brothers

[John L]

When the Mosaic Decca 1935-1946 was released, it was a significant sonic upgrade.  As is often the case, subsequent releases may have stolen Mosaic's work in one form or another.  

[Stompin at the Savoy]

2 hours ago, John L said:

When the Mosaic Decca 1935-1946 was released, it was a significant sonic upgrade.  As is often the case, subsequent releases may have stolen Mosaic's work in one form or another.  

The Fremeaux releases actually do process the signal and remaster.  I know this from the Blanton Webster band release they put out.  You may or may not like it - I do - but the sound is clearly different from any other release I've heard.

Edited June 1 by Stompin at the Savoy

[John L]

8 hours ago, Stompin at the Savoy said:

The Fremeaux releases actually do process the signal and remaster.  I know this from the Blanton Webster band release they put out.  You may or may not like it - I do - but the sound is clearly different from any other release I've heard.

But what signal do they process?  They don't have access to the masters.  Right?

[AllenLowe]

I think they either re-transfer the 78s and process, or take prior transfers and re-eq. You would be amazed at how bad a job some good transfer engineers do on EQ. I have managed to radically improve some of these in my home studio. You gotta know the science, plus you need accurate monitors, which I would bet are the problem with a lot of reissues. As a matter of fact, I am currently working on a new historical project and about ninety percent of what I listen to on prior reissues can be easily improved just by knowing which dials to twist at which frequencies.

One thing, I should say, that puzzles me in this thread is why anyone would pick the All Stars over the Deccas from the 1930s and 1940s, which are among the pinnacle of jazz performance in the 20th century. Sure, a few oddities, but some of the most brilliant music ever produced in jazz. 

 

Edited June 2 by AllenLowe

[AllenLowe]

I am just going to mention that I have been listening to the Fremeaux Ellington for the first time in a while, and these were clearly (IMHO) not 78 transfers. There's just too much of an absence of any surface noise, even when I boost the top end; we usually do not hear anything this quiet unless it's a master or a pristine test pressing. Someone somehow got hold of some very good sources, unless they have taken prior BMG releases of this material and just eq'd them well (though even with these I was able to improve the EQ). But unless they reveal their sources we'll never know. 

[romualdo]

Last page of the Ellington Fremeaux booklet (Duke At His Very Best 1940-42)

For The present set I have used, where possible, multiple copies of the 78rpm discs. I have applied a minimum of filtering & digital processing to the transfers, at the modest expense of a little surface noise & slight occasional distortion. The priority has been to convey the dynamic range & musicality of the Ellington Orchestra. Some 82 of the 94 tracks in the present set are direct transfers from 78 rpm masters, while 12 others are taken from secondary analogue sources.

Tony Baldwin

[Stompin at the Savoy]

I think it's the best available version of the Blanton Webster stuff.  It's somehow clearer than the RCA issues from 2000 (the big box and the Never No Lament box).  

It's true as John L. was saying above that a lot of those Euro-compilations are just grabbing digital files from previous releases like Mosaic.

[AllenLowe]

1 hour ago, romualdo said:

Last page of the Ellington Fremeaux booklet (Duke At His Very Best 1940-42)

For The present set I have used, where possible, multiple copies of the 78rpm discs. I have applied a minimum of filtering & digital processing to the transfers, at the modest expense of a little surface noise & slight occasional distortion. The priority has been to convey the dynamic range & musicality of the Ellington Orchestra. Some 82 of the 94 tracks in the present set are direct transfers from 78 rpm masters, while 12 others are taken from secondary analogue sources.

Tony Baldwin

I don't believe him - this is the same kind of thing some of the British collectors said years ago to disguise the fact that they had gotten access to the EMI archives. Honestly, I think he is just protecting his sources.

Edited June 3 by AllenLowe

[medjuck]

I'm embarrassed to say how many different editions of the the Ellington 1940-1942 material I've bought looking for the best sounding.  After I read a glowing review of the Fremeaux box set on an Ellington list serve I ordered it.   Listening to it now and find it by far the cleanest and most dynamic I've heard. 

Also the boxes list the soloists for each track which I much appreciate. 

Edited June 15 by medjuck