Virtual Exhibits

The theme of this site, “That’s My Home,” usually leans heavily towards “home” referring to Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s beloved residence at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Queens, where each spent their final decades. But when a member of the New Orleans Jazz Club expressed her desire for Louis to return “home” in 1965, LouisContinue reading ““I’ll Never Forget It”: The 100th Anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s Arrival in Chicago”

It’s been a while since we last checked in with Louis Armstrong and Jack Bradley. To refresh your memory, we last posted a three-part series on Louis’s Jones Beach run with Guy Lombardo in the summer of 1966, which allowed him to remain at his Corona, Queens home and just commute to nearby Long IslandContinue reading ““The Greatest Photo Taker”: Remembering Jack Bradley Part 25–Hempstead Concert and Central Park Press Conference 1967″

Back in 2020, we started a series on this site devoted to the reel-to-reel tapes Louis Armstrong made between getting out of the hospital in the spring of 1969 and his passing in July 1971. With a newly remodeled den and no gigs on the horizon, Armstrong started re-cataloging his reel-to-reels, beginning with a newContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 51-55”

This is the latest post in our ongoing series analyzing the reel-to-reel tapes Louis Armstrong made between 1969 and 1971–catch up on the whole series here and see below for Reels 56 through 60. Reel 56Accession Number 1987.3.356 Last time out, Armstrong was in the mood to listen to his own music, something that isContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 56-60”

In our last post on the tapes Louis Armstrong made between 1969 and 1971, Louis was deep in the middle of a run of listening to his own music–something that continues today as we examine Reels 61-65. (Catch up on the entire series here!) Reel 61Accession Number 1987.3.361 Picking up where we left off onContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 61-65”

The last several posts in this series have been filled with dubs of Armstrong’s own recordings (I still might make good on my threat to create a playlist that mirrors these tapes), something that continues in today’s post, but Armstrong also begins to drift a bit here, reaching back to 78s, dubbing Dr. Martin LutherContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 66-70”

We’ll open with a plug for our previous entry in this series, as it set up the recordings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral and Armstrong’s January 13, 1970 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show, each also featured in today’s post–AND included the audio of both! If this is your first time stumbling uponContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 71-75”

In our previous installment of this series, Louis finally started moving away from dubs of his own recordings and started listening to music old (Fats Waller, Jimmie Lunceford) and new (Lara Saint Paul, music from the 1969 film Adding Machine). That trend continues today with Louis almost exclusively listening to releases from the late 60s.Continue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 76-80”

Louis’s listening habits have been all over the place in the last couple of entries of this series, with a bunch of Broadway and film soundtracks, pop music from The Rascals, traditional jazz from Jimmy McPartland and Tony Parenti, and modern jazz from Woody Herman and Louie Bellson. We’ll pick up today with more likeContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 81-85”

Last time out, we featured the first installment in this series that included no collages at all, just Armstrong putting new reel numbers on the original boxes. We made up for it by sharing lots of rare audio and are happy to report that the collages return today–and so will the rare audio. Let’s begin!Continue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 86-90”