AMG Review of All-Time Greatest Hits

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

The 18 tracks on All-Time Greatest Hits come from Louis Armstrong's "pop" era, the final decades of his career where, under the tutelage of producer Milt Gabler and arranger Gordon Jenkins, the jazz pioneer moved full-bore into a genial form of heavily orchestrated pop music. The Armstrong of this era, a large, bear-like man with an infectious laugh and a gravelly voice, immaculately dressed in a crisp suit with a white linen handkerchief in one hand and a rarely played trumpet in the other, has become the iconic image of the man, which unfairly relegates his best, most passionate and most influential work to the background. "What a Wonderful World," "Hello Dolly," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," and "When You're Smiling" are masterful pop songs, and this well-annotated, perfectly remastered set does them justice.