The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (2012)

Had Louis Armstrong stopped making music after these late-1920s small-group recordings, he'd still lay claim to having changed the game for every instrumentalist, singer, and bandleader who followed. In The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, it's all here: his virtuoso introduction to ''West End Blues''; his scat-singing on ''Heebie Jeebies''; the stop-time phrases of ''Cornet Chop Suey''; the breathtaking solo on ''Potato Head Blues.'' Critics will hail the music's technical breakthroughs. Collectors will revel in this reissue's sonics and luxurious packaging. And all who come to these 89 tracks on four CDs will find joy, pure and everlasting. A