Skip to main content
Album review: The Great Summit by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
CHRIS SEARLE on Jazz

Two of the great pioneering geniuses of jazz are united on this epochal record, created from sessions cut in April 1961 when Duke Ellington sat in as pianist with Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars, a touring band which Louis took with him all over the world.

I was discussing a lifelong love of jazz with Pedro, a Chilean friend, a comrade who had been a militant during the Popular Unity years and later a socialist prisoner in Pinochet’s prisons who had managed to find refuge in Britain with the support of Sheffield trade unionists in the mid ’70s.

Yes, he said, he had heard of Armstrong and his All-Stars in his home city of Valparaiso as a boy, and the vibrancy of his sound had never left him.


The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Mujician
Books / 3 June 2026
3 June 2026

CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician

ahmed
Jazz Album Review / 20 May 2026
20 May 2026

CHRIS SEARLE recommends a new album featuring Pat Thomas and Ahmed, and marvels at the tempestuous power of a live performance

Arin Keshishi Quintet on stage / Pic: Artstage
Culture / 24 November 2025
24 November 2025

As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there

moholo
Appreciation / 9 July 2025
9 July 2025

CHRIS SEARLE pays tribute to the late South African percussionist, Louis Moholo-Moholo