This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
These two titles provide a varied — if somewhat unfocused — overview of the jazz pioneer’s career, blending live recordings, studio tracks, early cuts, later material, hits, obscurities and pretty much everything but Louis’s home answering-machine tape.
But if the approach is a mixed bag, the result is certainly no mixed blessing. While the willy-nilly presentation is disappointing (and the sound quality is sometimes so-so), Armstrong’s soaring trumpet lines and growling vocals are at full strength on virtually every one of these 30-some tracks.
ON THE MENU: Butter and Eggman (a reissue of a 1995 collection) has earlier gems like Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?, Jelly Roll Blues, When You’re Smiling, Body and Soul and La Vie En Rose. C’Est Si Bon (one of several Armstrong albums with this title) has later hits like Mack the Knife, Hello Dolly and Blueberry Hill.
SURPRISE: Superb guest spots by the inimitable Ella Fitzgerland on a sophisticated Summer Time (on Eggman) and a lazy Dream A Little Dream Of Me (C’Est Si Bon).
