In 1989, jazz writer-turned-director Gary Giddins crafted Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong, with Melvin Van Peebles as the craggy musical voice of America’s first … Read More “Sacha Jenkins: Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (Apple/Imagine)”
It seems loony through the long lens of 2021, but by the mid-1940s many people considered Louis Armstrong passé and past his prime. The man … Read More “Louis Armstrong: The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 (Mosaic)”
Hard to believe, but nearly 50 years after his death we’re still hearing new recordings from Louis Armstrong. Live in Europe, the fourth release of … Read More “Louis Armstrong: Live in Europe (Dot Time)”
Even among the collectors and completists for whom it’s intended, a nine-CD box set is not for listening to en masse. It’s best to break … Read More “Louis Armstrong: Columbia and RCA Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars”
Louis Armstrong’s mammoth canon has been reshuffled and reconfigured so many times that even the most determined collector or student could be forgiven for giving … Read More “Louis Armstrong: The OKeh, Columbia & RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933”
There is no denying the historical significance of Satchmo at the National Press Club: Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours. Recorded on Jan. 29, 1971, the … Read More “Louis Armstrong: Satchmo at the National Press Club: Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours”
The challenge for any biographer approaching a subject whose life story is ingrained in the world’s cellular memory is to introduce something new to that … Read More “Pops: A LIfe of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout”
