''I've Got the World on a String'' is a 1960 album by

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, arranged by Russell Garcia. The album was recorded on the same day as Armstrong's 1958 album '' Louis Under the Stars''; the previous day he had finished recording ''

Ella and Louis Again ''Ella and Louis Again'' is a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, released in 1957 on Verve Records. It is the sequel to their 1956 album, ''Ella and Louis''. In contrast to their previous collaboration, this album features seven ...

'' with

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

. In 1999 ''I've Got the World on a String'' was reissued with ''Louis Under the Stars'' with bonus material and outtakes.

Reception

''Billboard'' magazine reviewed the album in their March 14, 1960 issue and wrote that "Satchmo plays it soft and romantic on this listenable collection of standards...Prime jockey wax". Richard S. Ginell reviewed the reissue of the album for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

and wrote that these "once-overlooked albums...are finally being appreciated as prime samplings from the autumn of Armstrong's recording career" and that "Even in the pressure cooker of a marathon session, even when confronted with standards not often associated with him, Armstrong finds the essence of each tune, bending and projecting them with his patented joie de vivre and gravel-voiced warmth every time". Ginell described Armstrong's trumpet playing as "pithy, soulful, ndbelonging to no one else" and praised arranger Russell Garcia's arrangements for

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

or strings as "...among the most atmospheric ever accorded to Armstrong. In particular, "When Your Lover Is Gone" is sublime, with its signature riff of blasé, sighing horns and responding, rising string tremolos, and Garcia frames "Body and Soul" with a lovely string chart whose penultimate stroke is a perfectly placed blue note".

Track listing

# "

When Your Lover Has Gone "When Your Lover Has Gone" is a 1931 composition by Einar Aaron Swan which, after being featured in the James Cagney film '' Blonde Crazy'' that same year, has become a jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an importa ...

" (

Einar Aaron Swan Einar Aaron Swan (born Einar (Eino) William Swan; March 20, 1903 – August 8, 1940) was an American musician, arranger and composer. He is known for writing songs including " When Your Lover Has Gone" and " In the Middle of a Dream". Early life S ...

) – 4:42 # " You're the Top" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

) – 2:33 # " You Turned the Tables on Me" (

Louis Alter Louis Alter (June 18, 1902 – November 3, 1980) was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. At 13, he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stuar ...

, Sidney Mitchell) – 2:38 # " Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, Bob Russell) – 3:41 # " Little Girl Blue" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...

) – 5:45 # " Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (

Traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

) – 4:56 # " We'll Be Together Again" ( Carl T. Fischer) – 4:07 # " I've Got the World on a String" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but ...

) – 2:52 # " Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me" (Ellington, Russell) – 4:16 # " I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" (Arlen, Koehler) – 4:05

Personnel

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* Russell Garcia –

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, conductor *

Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo and the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series. Gra ...

– producer *John Altoon – cover art

References

{{Authority control 1960 albums Albums arranged by Russell Garcia (composer) Albums produced by Norman Granz Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Louis Armstrong albums Verve Records albums