Click on the image to take it one step beyond.

Sure, this is the America of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, an America up to its neck in craptastic mediocrity — but it’s also still the America of Frank Sinatra, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

With thanks to reader Ken . . .

Click on the image to enlarge.

After his revolutionary work in the 1920s, Louis Armstrong settled into a groove that was in some respects less electrifying. From 1935 to 1946 he fronted a big band, which recorded for Decca. The musicians were not always first-rate, the arrangements were occasionally third-rate and the choice of material was sometimes questionable.

But Armstrong’s genius sailed along as though he didn’t notice these things — he created brilliant work almost every time he stepped to the fore. “You Are My Lucky Star”, by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, is from the first of his band’s recording dates for Decca, on 3 October 1935 in New York City.

Armstrong’s instrumental and vocal interpretation of the charming song is simply sublime.

. . . dig Ella in New York City, 1948. Photograph by Herman Leonard.

Click on the image to enlarge.

1948

Click on the image for a larger size.

Click on the image for a larger view.