Previously unheard Louis Armstrong recordings to be released

Dot Time Records has announced a partnership with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Inc. to continue their ‘Legends’ series, making four previously unreleased productions available to the public.

The productions will be available in CD, Vinyl and Digital formats. In addition a special collector’s edition will also be available (more details on this will be revealed next month). The audio has been taken from the archives of Queens College, New York.

The first release in the series, coming mid-May, will feature a 55 minute studio session from San Francisco, recorded on January 20, 1950 by the Standard Oil Company for their radio show, “Musical Map of America.” The recording was episode 19, “Musical Story of New Orleans,” and featured Armstrong, Jack Teagarden and Earl Hines. For reasons not known, the broadcast was never made and Armstrong was given the acetate discs of the sessions. Future releases will feature selections of concerts that date back to the 1950’s and 60’s, including the 1957 South American Tour, which will be a double CD release.

Oscar Cohen, who was Louis Armstrong’s manager and is the sole and exclusive agent for the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. and the estate of Louis Armstrong said, “Louis Armstrong is the most beloved and iconic artist of our time. His sound, his voice, his love – he forever touches the hearts of people everywhere.”

Other artists in the ‘Legends’ series include Gerry Mulligan and Ella Fitzgerald.