Two planned albums from Dot Time Records include recently uncovered recordings of Luis Russell found in the closet of a working musician of the period. These are primarily air checks of radio broadcasts that Russell himself commissioned, and they document many titles that he never recorded in the studio. Volume 1 focuses in on an important period after Louis Armstrong took over Russell’s band in 1935 and made it his own. When Louis fronted the band, it was Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra; when it toured or recorded without him, it was the Luis Russell Orchestra. This was an important period for Louis, at the height of his Swing Era popularity with a string of Decca hits.
The long working relationship between Louis Armstrong and Luis Russell is well documented in a 24-page booklet of album notes that also provides the provenance of these recordings and details of each session. They focus in on the particular period covered, and for these notes alone I strongly encourage you to acquire the physical album (which does include a download). The notes are accompanied by several time-appropriate pictures provided by daughter and prominent jazz singer Catherine Russell. These crisp photographs capture men like Paul Barbarin and Albert Nicholas at a younger age than I am used to seeing them. Some of the notes are drawn from a forthcoming biography of Russell by Paul Kahn, Catherine Russell
