Satchmo's adventures in the 1940s are dealt with in this box set, from big band sides, via duets with Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Jordan and The Mills Brothers to the classic live recordings from the Town Hall and Symphony Hall with the All Stars.

A fascinating era in the career of one of the greatest jazz men of the 20th century. As a trumpeter he was without peer. Until the rise of Dizzy Gillespie during the forties there was no jazz trumpeter who did not stem from Satchmo and even after that every trumpeter has been at least indirectly indebted to him.

Track Listing:
CD 1: COAL CART BLUES
1. CHERRY (Redman) 1940
2. PERDIDO STREET BLUES (Armstrong) 1940
3. 2 :19 BLUES (Desdume) 1940
4. DOWN IN HONKY TONK TOWN (Smith, McCarron) 1940
5. COAL CART BLUES (Armstrong, Hardin) 1940
6. EVERYTHING’S BEEN DONE BEFORE (Adamson, Knopf, King) 1940
7. I COVER THE WATERFRONT (Green, Heyman) 1941
8. IN THE GLOAMING (Harrison, Orred) 1941
9. LONG, LONG, AGO (Bayley) 1941
10. HEY LAWDY MAMA (Easton) 1941
11. I’LL GET MINE BYE AND BYE (Davis) 1941
12. DO YOU CALL THAT A BUDDY? (Wilson) 1941
13. YES SUH! (Dowell, Razaf) 1941
14. WHEN IT’S SLEEPY TIME DOWN SOUTH (Rene, Rene, Muse) 1941
15. LEAP FROG (Garland) 1941
16. I USED TO LOVE YOU (BUT IT’S ALL OVER NOW) (Tilzer, Brown) 1941
17. YOU RASCAL YOU (Theard) 1941
18. (GET SOME) CASH FOR YOUR TRASH (Kirkeby, Waller) 1942
19. AMONG MY SOUVENIRS (Nicholls, Leslie) 1942
20. COQUETTE (Berlin) 1942
21. I NEVER KNEW (Fio Rito, Kahn) 1942
22. JACK-ARMSTRONG BLUES (Teagarden, Armstrong) 1944
23. I’M CONFESSIN’ (Neiburg, Dougherty, Reynolds) 1944
24. YOU WON’T BE SATISFIED (UNTIL YOU BREAK MY HEART) (James, Stock) 1946
25. THE FRIM FRAM SAUCE (Evans, Ricardi) 1946  

CD 2: ROCKIN’ CHAIR
1. LONG LONG JOURNEY (Feather) 1946
2. SNAFU (Feather) 1946
3. LINGER IN MY ARMS A LITTLE LONGER (Magidson) 1946
4. WHATTA YA GONNA DO? (Skylar, Lewis) 1946
5. NO VARIETY BLUES (Armstrong, Fairbanks) 1946
6. JOSEPH ‘N’ HIS BROTHERS (Armstrong, Bell) 1946
7. BACK O’TOWN BLUES (Armstrong, Russell) 1946
8. I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (Moll, Mencher) 1946
9. SUGAR (Alexander, Mitchell, Pinkard) 1946
10. BLUES FOR YESTERDAY (Carr) 1946
11. BLUES IN THE SOUTH (Carr, Johnstone) 1946
12. ENDIE (Alter, De Lange) 1946
13. THE BLUES ARE BREWIN’ (Alter, De Lange) 1946
14. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS? (Alter, De Lange) 1946
15. WHERE THE BLUES WERE BORN IN NEW ORLEANS (Capleton, Dixon) 1946
16. MAHOGANY HALL STOMP (Williams) 1946
17. I WONDER, I WONDER (Hutchins) 1947
18. I BELIEVE (Cahn, Styne) 1947
19. WHY DOUBT MY LOVE? (Armstrong, Mercer) 1947
20. IT TAKES TIME (Korb) 1947
21. YOU DON’T LEARN THAT IN SCHOOL (Alfred, Fisher) 1947
22. AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ (Waller, Brooks, Razaf) 1947
23. ROCKIN’ CHAIR (Carmichael) 1947  

CD 3: A BAND WAS BORN
1. BACK O’TOWN BLUES (Armstrong, Russell) 1947
2. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (Burke, Johnston) 1947
3. SAVE IT PRETTY MAMA (Denniker, Davis, Redman) 1947
4. ST. JAMES INFIRMARY (Primrose) 1947
5. JACK-ARMSTRONG BLUES (Armstrong, Teagarden) 1947
6. ROCKIN’ CHAIR (Carmichael) 1947
7. SOME DAY (YOU’LL BE SORRY) (Armstrong) 1947
8. FIFTY-FIFTY BLUES (Moore) 1947
9. A SONG WAS BORN (Raye, De Paul) 1947
10. PLEASE STOP PLAYING THOSE BLUES (Demetrius, Moore) 1947
11. BEFORE LONG (Catlett, Sigman) 1947
12. LOVELY WEATHER WE’RE HAVING (De Vries, Bushkin) 1947
13. MUSKRAT RAMBLE (Ory) 1947
14. BLACK AND BLUE (Razaf, Brooks, Waller) 1947
15. ROYAL GARDEN BLUES (Williams, Williams) 1947
16. LOVER (Rodgers, Hart) 1947
17. STARS, FELL ON ALABAMA (Parish, Perkins) 1947
18. I CRIED FOR YOU (Freed, Lyman, Arnheim) 1947
19. SINCE I FELL FOR YOU (Johnson) 1947
20. TEA FOR TWO (Caesar, Youmans) 1947  

CD 4: NEW ORLEANS FUNCTION
1. BODY AND SOUL (Green, Heyman, Sour, Eaton) 1947
2. STEAK FACE Trad. 1947
3. MAHOGANY HALL STOMP (Williams) 1947
4. ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (Fields, McHugh) 1947
5. HIGH SOCIETY (Steele, Piron) 1947
6. BABY, WON’T YOU PLEASE COME HOME? (Warfield, Williams) 1947
7. THAT’S MY DESIRE (Kresa, Loveday) 1947
8. C-JAM BLUES (Ellington) 1947
9. BOFF-BOFF (Hawkins) 1947
10. MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE (Scott, Ruby) 1949
11. I’LL KEEP THE LOVELIGHT BURNING IN MY HEART (Benjamin, Weiss) 1949
12. YOU CAN’T LOSE A BROKEN HEART (Johnson, Miller) 1949
13. MY SWEET HUNK O’TRASH (Johnson, Miller) 1949
14. NEW ORLEANS FUNCTION (FREE AS A BIRD/ OH DIDN’T HE RAMBLE) (Handy) 1950
15. LA VIE EN ROSE (Guglielme, Piaf, David) 1950
16. C’EST CI BON (Betti, Hornez, Seelen) 1950
17. LIFE IS SO PECULIAR (Burke, Van Heusen) 1950
18. YOU RASCAL YOU (Theard) 1950