Culled from fairly representative 1959 live recordings of two different versions of Satchmo's All Stars band, SINGIN' AND PLAYIN' suffers from poor sound quality. As always, however, Armstrong's joy and exuberance manage to shine through. The first three tracks are from the excellent Trummy Young/Billy Kyle version of the All Stars, arguably the band best matched to Armstrong's unique combination of serious jazz and comedic routines. Listeners interested in this lineup, however, would do well to also pick up the sublime MACK THE KNIFE or THE GREAT CHICAGO CONCERT 1956.