1960 · Album
Bing & Satchmo
Recorded 1960 · MGM (released via Project Records) · Arranger and Conductor: Billy May
Two Voices, One Afternoon of Song
Crosby and Armstrong trade choruses with the ease of old friends, no tension, just swing.
By 1960, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong had been around long enough to know what worked. This album finds them in a relaxed studio setting, arranged and conducted by Billy May, trading vocals on standards and lighter fare. There's no pretense here — just two singers who understood how to phrase a melody and play with a rhythm section.
What makes this record work is how comfortable both men sound. Crosby's voice had aged into something warmer and less affected than his earlier crooning, while Armstrong's rasp and flexibility let him bend notes in ways that kept things alive. They're not trying to outdo each other. May's arrangements give each man room to breathe, and the interplay between them feels genuine rather than manufactured. The album isn't trying to be serious jazz or high art — it's two professionals doing what they do, singing well on good songs.
This sits comfortably alongside Crosby's other vocal records of the era, not a peak moment in either artist's catalog but solid work that rewards listening. It's the kind of album that doesn't demand attention but repays it if you give it a chance. The songs themselves carry the session, and both singers have the good sense to serve them rather than oversell them.
Who's playing
Morty Corbbass
Stan Wrightsmanpiano
George van Epsguitar
Louis Armstrongtrumpet
Dick Cathcarttrumpet
Shorty Sherocktrumpet
Abe Lincolntrombone
Pullman “Tommy” Pedersontrombone
Moe Schneidertrombone
Nick Fatooldrums
Chuck Gentryreeds
Justin Gordonreeds
Matty Matlockreeds
Wilbur Schwartzreeds
