Flat Earth Society - Armstrong Mutations

All Music Guide

Louis Armstrong is viewed by many as the single most important figure in the history of jazz, introducing the world to the vocabulary of jazz soloing and the effortless rhythms of swing. Indeed, various aspects of his artistic persona from his earliest sides with King Oliver in the '20s through his later hits like "Hello Dolly" and "What a Wonderful World" in the '60s had a tremendous influence not only on jazz but on a wide range of pop music as well. Any attempt at an Armstrong homage therefore has a huge legacy to confront, and is a risky proposition bound to court controversy and engender criticism from those who would believe there is a "correct" way to honor an artist with such a towering reputation. Well, the Belgian big band Flat Earth Society proves that there is indeed a correct way to tackle an Armstrong homage, and that is to throw the idea of "correct" completely out the window. With The Armstrong Mutations, FES examines Armstrong's music, but also his life, in all its c...onflicted glory. Peter Vermeersch and company seemingly acknowledge that Armstrong is seen largely as an amiable, entertaining personality (particularly by his later mainstream pop audience unfamiliar with his groundbreaking early King Oliver, Hot Five, Hot Seven, and bigband music), but also that his life was filled with struggle, not only in battles to overcome poverty and racism, but also in his balancing act between groundbreaking artistry and commercial acceptance. The Armstrong Mutations somehow manages to touch upon all of that while, like Armstrong himself, remaining supremely entertaining from start to finish. Read more Less