Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington

The Great Reunion of Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington

1974 · EMUS Records ES-12014 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	EMUS Records
Catalogue number	ES-12014
Year	1974
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Swing/Mainstream Jazz
Producer	Bob Thiele
Musicians	Louis Armstrong (trumpet, vocals), Duke Ellington (piano), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Trummy Young (trombone), Mort Herbert (bass), Danny Barcelona (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  ES12014A BELL SOUND SE
Side B:  ES12014B BELL SOUND SE

Condition

Cover: NM-
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1963 - US Roulette R-52103 mono, first pressing
1963 - US Roulette SR-52103 stereo, first pressing
1974 - EMUS ES-12014 stereo budget reissue, plain yellow label, Bell Sound 'SE' mastering  <- this copy
1978 - MFSL 'Original Master Recording' audiophile reissue
2001/2008 - Classic Records 200g audiophile reissue (LP and 45rpm)

This Pressing

1974 EMUS budget reissue (Roulette-family label) of the 1963 Roulette SR-52103 program - Bell Sound-mastered stereo pressing, not a first pressing.

The Album

Recorded for Roulette across two sessions on April 3 and 4, 1961 at RCA Victor's Studio A in New York, this material paired two of jazz's founding titans - Louis Armstrong, the trumpet virtuoso and singer who shaped the entire vocabulary of jazz improvisation, and Duke Ellington, the era's most consequential composer and bandleader - in a stripped-down small-group setting rather than Ellington's usual orchestra. Backing them were Armstrong's touring All Stars rhythm section, plus clarinetist Barney Bigard, a former longtime Ellingtonian who had since joined Armstrong's band, giving the date a genuine reunion flavor. The single marathon date yielded enough material for two LPs: 'Recording Together for the First Time' appeared first in 1961, and this second helping, 'The Great Reunion,' followed in 1963, built entirely around Ellington's own songbook - 'It Don't Mean A Thing,' 'Solitude,' 'I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good' and others - recast in Armstrong's husky, instantly recognizable phrasing. Critics and historians have long prized the encounter for its easy, unforced chemistry: Ellington's harmonic sophistication meeting Armstrong's blues-rooted swagger with neither artist compromising his own musical personality. The session stands as a late-career highlight for both men and remains one of the most beloved intergenerational summit meetings in jazz history, still cited today as a model of two giants meeting as equals.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. It Don't Mean A Thing - 3:51
2. Solitude - 4:37
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - 3:32
4. I'm Beginning To See The Light - 3:34

Side 2

1. Just Squeeze Me - 3:52
2. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good - 5:27
3. Azalea - 5:00

The Label

The label seen here is plain yellow with black text, the word 'EMUS' set in bold block capitals at the top, the title and artist credits below it, 'Produced by Bob Thiele' underneath, and 'STEREO / ES-12014' at lower left with speed and side at lower right - a simple, unadorned budget-label design with no deep groove and no Roulette branding. EMUS was founded in 1974 by Morris Levy as one of Roulette's budget reissue imprints, recycling masters from Roulette's catalog; ES-12014 reissues the 1963 Roulette SR-52103 program. The Bell Sound 'SE' etching in the runout points to a Bell Sound Studios (NYC) custom mastering job done for this reissue rather than a carry-over of the original Roulette lacquers, consistent with a mid-1970s repress rather than a first pressing.

Fidelity

The 'SE' etching after Bell Sound in the runout points to a Bell Sound Studios (NYC) custom mastering job commissioned for this EMUS reissue rather than a reuse of the original 1963 Roulette lacquers, which is typical of Roulette-family budget lines of the era. As a mid-1970s cut-rate repress, this pressing is generally regarded by collectors as sonically serviceable but a step below the original Roulette stereo pressing, and well below the later audiophile remasters - Classic Records' 200g cut and Mobile Fidelity's 'Original Master' edition - both mastered with greater care from better-generation sources. Within the album's overall fidelity hierarchy this EMUS pressing sits near the bottom: original Roulette > Classic Records 200g / MFSL audiophile reissues > later 180g reissues > this EMUS budget cut.

Notes

This is the 1974 EMUS ES-12014 stereo reissue of Armstrong & Ellington's 1963 Roulette album, not the original Roulette pressing. EMUS was Morris Levy's Roulette-family budget imprint, and the plain yellow, unadorned label design with no Roulette branding matches EMUS's known 1970s house style. The runout shows a Bell Sound 'SE' mastering stamp, indicating a fresh cut made for this reissue rather than the original 1963 Roulette lacquers. Cover and vinyl are NM- in shrink/NM, consistent with a well-kept, unopened later pressing rather than a rare first issue.

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