A new thread for Louis Armstrong

[danny la rouge]

Basically I wanted to post this picture of Louis Armstrong without a hat, and none of the existing threads seemed suitable. So here he is, and here’s a new thread for all things Satchmo.






Pops in England.

 

[Indeliblelink]

He came over to the UK in about 1956, my dad saw him play at the Empress Hall in London which I'm very jealous of.

 

[danny la rouge]

He came over to the UK in about 1956, my dad saw him play at the Empress Hall in London which I'm very jealous of.

One of my idle wishes is to go back in time and see him live.

 

[rutabowa]

He came over to the UK in about 1956, my dad saw him play at the Empress Hall in London which I'm very jealous of.

My dad saw him on that tour too

 

[rutabowa]

Got this programme from it somewhere

**Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars British Tour Programme 1956** • £8.25

**LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND His All-Stars British Tour Programme 1956** - £8.25. FOR SALE! **LEE GORDON & BENN REYES PRESENT LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ALL-STARS BRITISH TOUR PROGRAMME 1956**GOOD USED CONDITION - PLEASE SEE PHOTOS FOR OVERALL CONDITION AS THESE ALSO FORM A LARGE PART OF THE...

picclick.co.uk

 

[RainbowTown]

Doesn't get much better than this.

 

[Knotted]

He went to Ilkley moor without his hat?!!?

 

[danny la rouge]

He went to Ilkley moor without his hat?!!?

It’s not unusual.

 

[Knotted]

I'll just leave this here.

 

[souljacker]

I heard this on Radio 4 when I was driving earlier in the year. Good little radio doc about his time and influence in the UK:

BBC Radio 4 - King Louis the First of Britain

How the late Louis Armstrong conquered Britain with his music and personality.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[ska invita]

I heard this on Radio 4 when I was driving earlier in the year. Good little radio doc about his time and influence in the UK:

BBC Radio 4 - King Louis the First of Britain

How the late Louis Armstrong conquered Britain with his music and personality.

www.bbc.co.uk

yeah the bbc have had a ton of Louis Armstrong radio shows this year - mustve been some kind of anniversary

I always thought it was Lou-Eee but most everyone on the docs said Lou-Iss

He was a freemason I found out just this week

The Masons of Jazz

From Count Basie to Cab Calloway to Duke Ellington, many of the American jazz greats of the early- to mid- 20th century [...]

californiafreemason.org

 

[danny la rouge]

I always thought it was Lou-Eee but most everyone on the docs said Lou-Iss

He pronounced Louis with the s. You can hear him do it in Hello Dolly.

He wrote somewhere (I’ll try to remember where). “White folks call me Louie. My mother called me Louis”. He seems to have accepted Louie as a nickname (a shortened form of Louis with the S), although people who knew him personally called him Pops.

 

[danny la rouge]

mustve been some kind of anniversary

50 years since his death.

 

[danny la rouge]

Around 0:15




(He didn’t rate this song, btw).

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

“What A Wonderful World” is my favourite record of all time, and about the only one I know of that’s perfect. There's literally nothing you could do to it that could make it better. I finish every single DJ set I ever do with it.

It was made even more poignant for me when I found out after my Grandfathers death that it was his favourite too. I never knew.

 

[danny la rouge]

“What A Wonderful World” is my favourite record of all time, and about the only one I know of that’s perfect. There's literally nothing you could do to it that could make it better. I finish every single DJ set I ever do with it.

It was made even more poignant for me when I found out after my Grandfathers death that it was his favourite too. I never knew.

It’s a very late period classic. He possibly couldn’t play the trumpet that day due to his health, but when you get to the end and realise he hasn’t played trumpet you still don’t feel it’s missing anything. He conveys all the feeling needed with the timbre of his voice.

 

[rutabowa]

I must have posted this a 100 times but: Louis' first recorded trumpet solo, when he was 2nd cornet in king Oliver's band.... already an instantly-recognisable tone and style

 

[danny la rouge]

I must have posted this a 100 times but: Louis' first recorded trumpet solo, when he was 2nd cornet in king Oliver's band.... already an instantly-recognisable tone and style

Louis’ solo comes in around 1:53. He was charged with the C strain of the piece, but it absolutely makes the record. He was apparently put at the back of the room, too, because there was only one “microphone” (actually a horn) and he was far louder and clearer than not just his mentor, King Oliver, but the rest of the band put together.

 

[Indeliblelink]

Couple of must watches -
New Orleans (1947)
Louis, proto rapping, Billie Holiday. Kid Ory, Woody Herman


Satchmo The Great (1957)
documentary about his 1955/'56 international tour.

 

[rutabowa]

I've grown to be able to appreciate his later stuff but the 1920s recordings are so absolutely perfect that I still can't really look beyond them

 

[danny la rouge]

I've grown to be able to appreciate his later stuff but the 1920s recordings are so absolutely perfect that I still can't really look beyond them

The Hot 5s and 7s are must-have recordings for anyone interested in 20th century music. Utter genius milestone stuff.

But his mature All Star recordings are wonderful. He’s in his 50s, his voice is deeper, he’s pared back his trumpet playing to be more economical than in his 20s, but he does it with such a masterful understanding of the form that you don’t feel short changed, and of course the recording technology is so much better. Well, the classic 1947 Symphony Hall recording is pretty ropey sound quality wise (though of course his “come back” rebirth masterpiece), but the studio stuff is clear as a bell.

 

[danny la rouge]

File under things I didn’t know. Louis Armstrong playing pedal steel.

I knew he could play piano, but this was a bit of a curve ball!

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

We have a pub in Dover called Louis Armstrong. I've never been in though.

 

[danny la rouge]

We have a pub in Dover called Louis Armstrong. I've never been in though.

View attachment 428753

If ever I’m in Dover I must try to get there!

 

[ElizabethofYork]

My dad was a huge Louis Armstrong fan. We played What A Wonderful World at dad's funeral. Very emotional.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

If ever I’m in Dover I must try to get there!

I don't know if they have a connection, or if its just cos the owner is/was a jazz fan. But I see it every time i go past Morrisons, become curious again, and then go home and forget all about it!

 

[Pickman's model]

Basically I wanted to post this picture of Louis Armstrong without a hat, and none of the existing threads seemed suitable. So here he is, and here’s a new thread for all things Satchmo.




View attachment 302127View attachment 302127

Pops in England.

think the caption of that picture might be all dressed up and nowhere to go

 

[mojo pixy]

I love his socks-rolled-down style on the cover of the Ella and Louis LP...



...I can't explain why, it's just such a lovely, idiosyncratic detail (it was clearly a hot day in the studio)