If your first album either has a tracklist resembling a mid-1970's Yes album or a cover like this, you are probably committing career suicide. However, if you are Louis Armstrong, 35 years into your groundbreaking jazz career, you can make the cover look like whatever you want!
Doing some quick math on the way to work, I noticed that this album was recording nearly 30 years after the end of the Hot 5's and 7's period, a period longer than the time elapsed from the last Beatles recording session and the recording of "Free as a Bird" many years later. Therefore, it's not fair criticism to say, "where's Gut Bucket Blues? Willie the Weeper?" and a whole bevy of other 1920's hits that put Armstrong on the map. This is Louis Armstrong settling into his comfortable later years, capitalizing on his distinctive voice and taking it easy.
This is also every bit as much an Ella Fitzgerald album as well. I've gone on record as being uncertain at best about my interest in "vocal jazz" so don't expect me to criticize when I have very little to work off of. She started her career a bit later than Armstrong and was about to do very well with her "Songbook" series for Verve. Up until this point she wasn't really doing full albums, but had a number of hit singles to her name stretching back to the mid-1930's, a couple of which featured Armstrong.
Musically, this album shuns big lush orchestras in favor of a pared-down backing band featuring Oscar Peterson on piano, Buddy Rich on drums, plus a guitarist and bassist. The running times of the individual songs are quite generous, with only two clocking in at under four minutes.
The pair would do two more collaborations in rapid succession following the success of this album, but as far as I know they went their separate ways after this, maintaining, or (in Fitzgerald's case) growing their reputations.
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