This is a hilariously rotten record. Trumpeter
Freddie Hubbard, trombonist
Curtis Fuller, clarinetist
Alvin Batiste, guitarist
Al Casey, pianist
Kirk Lightsey, bassist
Red Callender and drummer
Alan Dawson attempt to pay tribute to
Louis Armstrong but the results are quite embarrassing. It is true that
Batiste is from New Orleans but that hardly makes him a Dixieland clarinetist, few trombonists sound less like a New Orleans player than
Fuller, and to have
Hubbard cast as Satch is bad casting to say the least. The programming of the music is illogical, particularly having the themeless "Gut Bucket Blues" followed by the pointless "Blues For Pops." The odd part is that the closer these modern players come to imitating
the Louis Armstrong All-Stars, the sillier they sound. "Ory's Creole Trombone" is remarkably bad with
Fuller making
Kid Ory seem like a virtuoso and
Hubbard fumbling all over the place; couldn't they have attempted it again? "Wild Man Blues" is such a fiasco (didn't any of these musicians care enough to learn the songs?) that this CD should only be purchased to amuse one's knowledgable friends. ~ Scott Yanow