As far as unofficial recording goes, we are living in a golden age. Not only are more bands willing to let people patch in to the soundboards, but stealth recording is much easier than it used to be. This is because the new digital recorders are smaller and can record for much longer than the old tape units, and with the better microphones available these days, they can give great quality.

The "stealth recording" era really began in the early 70's, when tape decks became managably small, but many enterprising souls made do with the old reel-to-reel jobs. One fellow I read about got some great Pink Floyd tapes by going to the shows in a wheelchair, with the deck mounted under the seat!

As I've demonstrated, however, it doesn't have to be a stealth recording to count - it just has to be unreleased. That means that recordings from radio and TV make the rounds, as well. That also means that my little hobby can reach much further into the past than the 70's. One of my oldest boots, in fact, is from 1954.

I gave a clue to this week's feature, along with a contest. The clue was "The most recognizable voice of the 20th century". The contest was a copy of the full show to the first person to guess who that was. Well, no one came close, because everyone was thinking of people who could have been recorded from the audience on the sly. As the General Practitioner said to the Gynecologist, "You've got to think outside the box."

What voice, known to people of all generations, could possibly be as instantly recognizable as the gravelly tones of Louis Armstrong?

You don't have to be a jazz fiend to recognize ol' Satchmo (short for Satchel Mouth). In fact, if you don't know Louie's voice, I HAVE to ask when you left your home in the rainforest. Louie was not only a distinctive voice- his style literally re-wrote the book on singing. I find it impossible to sing along with him on a song I know, but have never heard him do before. He'll leave me in the dust with some ingenious phrasing that would never have occured to me in a million years, and you know he did it off the cuff! What's more, once you've heard Louie sing it HIS way, any other way seems just moronic. As evidence, I point toward two "must have" jazz discs. First, check out the tune called "Cottontail", as well as the rest of The Great Summit between Louie and Duke Ellington. I love this disc so much that when a 2 disc "Complete Sessions" version was released, I bought that, too. The other is called Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson, his magnificent teaming with the piano great. The entire disc is a gem, but the tracks "Let's Fall in Love", "Blues in the Night", and "Let's Do It" will put the hurts on anything you thought was great singing before that. You should get these both immediately. Go ahead, I'll wait.

But he wasn't JUST a singer, he was a world class trumpet man as well. His style with the horn was every bit as distinctive as his vocals. I can identify Louie's horn in a song I've never heard, just from the way he plays it. No one else, even his imitators, had Louie's "in your face" style of playing. He always blew bright and strong, with powerful, slow notes that got his point across with no questions. Even his melllow, sweet songs were that direct- but no less sweet for that.

Louis cut his jazz teeth in the early days of the Jazz Era with King Oliver's band, and swung his way though that and the "Big Band" era. By 1954, though he was still a popular act (for the older set), his Dixieland style was about as "in" as the Lindy. In fact, the "hipsters" of the time looked down on Louie as a washed up old Uncle Tom. Of course, most of those "hipsters" were shooting heroin, stupidly thinking that it would make them sound like Charlie Parker.  Louie left a legacy that few others can even come close to touching, and thankfully lived to see that fact appreciated.

This week's selection comes from UNC at Chapel Hill on May 8, 1954. While Louis and his band play a fantastic set, it is a little short on the vocal genius that I extolled. The cut I chose, "A Kiss to Build a Dream On", is oh so sweet, however, and demonstrates both his voice and horn style.

Who can deny that the world is just a slightly better place for having Louie's beautiful music in it?

Click here for Louie Armstrong asking for A Kiss to Build a Dream On.

Next week: In 1983 a future guitar legend rehearsed with a famous singer for a world tour he never played on. Who can name them both?