50 years ago tonight, George Wein turned the Newport Jazz Festival into a star-studded celebration of Louis Armstrong’s birthday, as he recently celebrated (what he believed to be) his 70th on July 4. Once again, we find ourselves departing a bit from the “That’s My Home” theme of this site to take you to Newport,Continue reading ““A Beautiful Night”: Salute to Satch, Newport Jazz Festival July 10, 1970″
And now for something completely ridiculous. Louis Armstrong spent most of his time at home listening to music and when his tape recorder was running, he sometimes captured his own spontaneous reaction to the music he was dubbing. We shared a few such reactions in our original post about Armstrong’s record collection. It’s one thingContinue reading “Satch’s Tracks: Jerry Lewis’s “Bend Somethin’ at the Bar (Besides Your Elbows)” and “I Love Girls””
In our earlier Virtual Exhibit “Our Neighborhood,” we explored why the community of Corona, Queens meant so much to Louis and Lucille Armstrong. Between the time they moved in in 1943 until Lucille’s passing in 1983, the Armstrongs were beloved by the residents of 107th Street. This will be the first post in a seriesContinue reading “Neighbor Spotlight: Remembering “Little Dynamite,” Selma Heraldo”
On Monday, we kicked off our new “Neighbor Spotlight” series with a post about the Armstrong’s beloved neighbor, Selma Heraldo. Hyland Harris joined the Armstrong House in mid-2010 and became especially close to Selma before her passing in December 2011. For this installment of “Hanging With Hyland,” we asked for some of his memories ofContinue reading “Hanging With Hyland: Memories of Selma Heraldo”
“Listen to all kinds of music” was one of Louis Armstrong’s mantras, as evidenced in our first post about his record collection. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Armstrong listened to all kinds of trumpeters. Then again, maybe it will be a surprise to some as he spent a number of years blastingContinue reading ““The Cats Was Blowing!”: Other Trumpet Players in Louis Armstrong’s Record Collection”
Back in June, we did a three-part entry on a scrapbook Louis Armstrong compiled while convalescing at home in Corona, Queens after two stints in intensive care (here are the links to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). Armstrong labeled that particularly packed volume as scrapbook “1” and compiled it from late 1969 throughContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Scrapbooks: Scrapbook 2”
Louis Armstrong spent about 70 years on this planet, 28 of them in Corona, Queens. Yet time and again, we find ourselves returning to the last two years of his action-packed life. Why is that? Mainly because the theme of this site is “That’s My Home,” focusing on how Armstrong occupied himself when he wasContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 1-5”
Today is August 4, meaning it is time to celebrate Louis Armstrong’s “other” birthday (August 4 was a meaningless date to Armstrong, who sincerely believed he was born on July 4, but it’s the date on the baptismal certificate unearthed by Tad Jones so it gives us another reason to celebrate!). Last month, we sharedContinue reading “Happy Birthday, Pops! Louis and Friends Read Birthday Telegrams”
Last week, we got the ball rolling in our new series analyzing the contents of the 200 or so reel-to-reel tapes Louis Armstrong made in the last two years of his life, covering Reels 1 through 5. This week, we will continue with Reels 6 through 10. Reel 6Accession Number 2003.197.8 This is another recycledContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 6-10”
Denise Pease has been a resident of Corona for as long she can remember. The familiarity that Louis sparks in her comes from her memories gathering on Louis’s stoop with other children hoping to get the usual 50 cents Louis handed each of them for their college savings–which always ended up at the closest bodegaContinue reading “Neighbor Spotlight: Denise Pease Remembers “Uncle Louis””
