Level: 4
Tuning: Standard

Cornet Chop Suey, like many of the recordings Louis Armstrong made in February 1926, is astonishing in showing the first fruits of Armstrong's genius. It's in this track where Louis first develops his mastery of timing and rhythm in his soloing- his first solo is mesmeric, full of stops and starts and syncopations, almost as if Armstrong is inventing Be-Bop twenty years before it occurred. Armstrong's second solo is comparably brilliant, with his clarion-like trumpet transcending the relative obscurity of the tune.

Ernie has arranged Cornet Chop Suey in the key of C and hopefully captures the spirit of Armstrong's playing. It is played in a the ragtime/jazz guitar style of another musical genius, Rev Gary Davis.