Louis Armstrong recorded for Verve during the years 1956 and 1957.

As he approached his 60th year, he was becoming more famous as a charismatic contrabasso profundo vocalist than as an archetypal jazz man whose style and persona shaped the course of jazz and popular music throughout the first half of the 20th century.

Released in 1994, volume one in the Verve Jazz Masters reissue series contains 15 examples of Louis Armstrong at his warmest and most accessible.

The more intimate material was drawn from his collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald; other selections find him singing in reverb backed by a polished, sometimes string-laden orchestra arranged and conducted by Russell Garcia.

As if to reconnect with the essence of his original role in the development of classic jazz, Armstrong & His All Stars close the set with the old Dixieland war horse "When the Saints Go Marching In." This little Satchmo sampler is a serviceable introduction to the mature Louis Armstrong that will ensure ready access to a leisurely, nearly nine-minute rendering of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love).".