Sublime

In 1927, a music publisher decided to capitalize on Armstrong’s growing renown by releasing two books: 125 Jazz Breaks for Cornet and 50 Hot Choruses for Cornet. But Armstrong never actually wrote down any of this music. He simply showed up in a Chicago studio and improvised phrase after phrase after phrase into the horn of a primitive wax-cylinder

Many knowledgeable listeners are baffled by the success of the very first jazz recordings. These tracks, recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ironically an all-white ensemble) in 1917, were huge sellers and played a decisive role in creating a commercial market nationwide for jazz music.

In the middle years of the 1920s, Louis Armstrong tilted the balance. Compare the 1923 recordings of King Oliver’s Creole Band, where Armstrong is still mostly held in check and blends in with the rest of the band, with his brash trumpet pyrotechnics on “West End Blues” from 1928. In just five years, jazz evolved from a balanced team sport to a pla