Louis Armstrong House Museum

After the two-day Louis Armstrong Continuum, don’t forget to get your ticket for the Louis Armstrong House Virtual Experience this Saturday at noon EST! What a week for Armstrong fans! Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/louis-armstrong-house-virtual-

The Louis Armstrong Continuum begins tonight! If you love Pops, you don’t want to miss this free virtual symposium and concert, featuring an incredible lineup of speakers. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-louis-armstrong-internatio

Happy birthday, Billie Holiday, born on this date in 1915! Here is our Virtual Exhibit on the relationship between Satchmo and Lady Day: https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org//she-just/

Rare news clipping found in bassist Arvell Shaw’s scrapbook documenting Louis Armstrong’s performance at Hong Kong City Hall on this date in 1963!

History was made on this date in 1923 when Louis Armstrong stepped into the recording studio for the first time as a member of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band! Nothing has been the same since.... Here’s Louis’s first recorded solo on Chimes Blues: https://youtu.be/aqgvo29Vwig

The Louis Armstrong House Museum joins the rest of the world in mourning the passing of the legendary Chick Corea. A true original and a positive force for music, we will be enjoying the gifts he left behind until the end of time. Photo by Mikoaj Rutkowski

60 years ago today, vocalist Velma Middleton tragically passed away in Sierra Leone in the middle of an All Stars tour of Africa. We are celebrating Velma on our "That's My Home" site, sharing rare photos, a tape Velma and her family made for Louis and audio of Velma's last surviving concert performance. We love you, Velma! https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org//solid-a-/

The Real Ambassadors, was written by Dave and Iola Brubeck all about how Louis Armstrong was America’s first Cultural Ambassador for the United States. This jazz musical addressed racism in America, the music business, and the power of music to bring us all together. Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Real Ambassadors album, this full concert is co-presented by the Louis Armstrong House Museum and the Forum for Cultural Engagement through the U.S. Embassy of Moscow and f...eatures performances shot in the homes of both Armstrong and Brubeck. Join us here on Facebook Live at 1 p.m. EST on February 9 watch the concert! Lineup: Jake Goldbas - Artistic Director/Drums Alphonso Horne - Trumpet/Voice Camille Thurman - Saxophone/Voice Vuyo Sotashe - Voice Shenel Marie Johns - Voice Chris Pattishall - Piano Endea Owens - Bass

Here’s something heartwarming for your Friday! Last month we were contacted by Brandi Hoxie, an art educator at Popp’s Ferry Elementary School, where she teaches over 600 K-4th grade students. She shared the following: I just taught my Kindergarten and 1st grades about Louis Armstrong, his trumpet and song What a Wonderful World. My students ‘painted their feelings’ as they listened to Louis sing his beautiful song. They were completely mesmerized! I brought a trumpet we'd p...urchased at a garage sale and showed the kids--they were so excited to make their own golden glittered trumpet to put on their painted background. I feel like this lesson was super important for these scary times in America. This lesson was like salve to a wound that we all have in America right now. I wanted to reach out and tell you that Louis continues to touch the lives of so many even today. When we shared how touched we were by her story, Brandi sent a number of photos of her students in action, which we are sharing with the permission of the students, their families and the school administration. What a wonderful world, indeed--thank you, Brandi Hoxie and the students of Popp’s Ferry Elementary School!

The sessions for "Louis and the Good Book," one of Louis Armstrong's most popular Decca albums, began on this date in 1958. Find a digital or physical copy and listen to it today!

For our final post on the 65th anniversary of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars’s performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, a batch of photos allowing us to get an intimate glimpse of the All Stars backstage before the show, apparently fueled by coffee and Cokes! Listen to those Amsterdam tracks on Ambassador Satch now (available wherever music is streamed) and PLAY IT LOUD! #louisarmstrong #concertgebouw #amsterdam #netherlands #ambassadorsatch #columbia #concert #onthisday #trummyyoung #edmondhall #blackandwhite #photography #velmamiddleton #barrettdeems #arvellshaw #billykyle #allstars #trumpet #lahmdigitization #dailypops #jazz #music #BAM #blackamericanmusic #satchmo #pops #louisarmstronghousemuseum #louisarmstronghouse #armstronghouse #wonderfulworld

Time to feature the All Stars themselves! In the second part of our 65th anniversary tribute to Louis Armstrong’s Ambassador Satch concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on October 30, 1955, here are ten photos of the All Stars onstage and off that night. Take a bow, Velma Middleton, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Billy Kyle, Arvell Shaw and Barrett Deems! #louisarmstrong #concertgebouw #amsterdam #netherlands #ambassadorsatch #columbia #concert #onthisday #trummyyoung #edmondhall #blackandwhite #photography #velmamiddleton #barrettdeems #arvellshaw #billykyle #allstars #trumpet #lahmdigitization #dailypops #jazz #music #BAM #blackamericanmusic #satchmo #pops #louisarmstronghousemuseum #louisarmstronghouse #armstronghouse #wonderfulworld

65 years ago today, Louis Armstrong and the All Stars performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. George Avakian of Columbia Records recorded the show and four tracks ended up on the seminal album Ambassador Satch (Tin Roof Blues, Muskrat Ramble, Dardanella and Undecided). But Avakian also made sure that Columbia photographed every part of the evening, from arrival, to backstage prep to the actual concerts. Almost none of these photos have been seen before but all ...are in our Archives so for the 65th anniversary, we’re going to take you to the Concertgebouw for three separate posts! The first one shows and powerful front line partners Trummy Young and Edmond Hall in an actionmore to come! #louisarmstrong #concertgebouw #amsterdam #netherlands #ambassadorsatch #columbia #concert #onthisday #trummyyoung #edmondhall #blackandwhite #photography #museum #trumpet #lahmdigitization #dailypops #jazz #music #BAM #blackamericanmusic #satchmo #pops #louisarmstronghousemuseum #louisarmstronghouse #armstronghouse #wonderfulworld See more

On the Sunny Side of the Street is a scene from Armstrong Now! commission Inside the Laughing Barrel featuring Choreography and Characterization by Kayla Farrish. When I first played this song I couldn’t get it out of my head. Louis began grandly on the horn and the words struck me. I wanted to create an intimacy with Louis and an embodied character that represented all of the layers: grit, craft, soul, trauma and magic of his spirit and Black people. A tribute to the l...ayers of pointing your feet towards the sunny side of the street and understanding the meaning of that perspective. He wails at the end with the most incredible craft and spirit. It was unforgettable and I feel changed by getting to make the full work with Melanie Charles and Naomi Extra in Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s home. And I reflect back on my roots with jazz dance, my father’s love for it and music, and what it is to be a part of this history and legacy. I’m happy I could bring the humanity and spirit in this work inspired by Louis’s magic to be filled. - Kayla Farrish See more

60 years ago today, Louis Armstrong stopped a civil war in Leopoldville. Don't believe us? Here is the full epic tale of one of the craziest days of Armstrong's life, when both sides of a civil war called a temporary truce because Satchmo was coming to perform! Includes audio, video, State Department memos, reel-to-reel tapes, scrapbook pages, newspaper clippings and much, much more. https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org//satchmo-/

65 years ago today, Louis and the All Stars played the Sportpalast in West Berlin! These rare photos, newspaper clipping and ticket stub come from our Winfried Maier Collection, donated by Louis’s friend Winfried to the Louis Armstrong House Museum in 2015!

On this date in 1933, Louis Armstrong and His Hot Harlem Band performed at the Stockholm, Sweden Auditorium. From our Gösta Hägglöf Collection, here’s a rare photo, set list and ticket stub! For audio, here’s part of Louis’s October 23 show in Stockholm: https://youtu.be/ugP69-lBK7o And for a 9-minute video that can change your life, don’t miss this priceless footage of Armstrong in Copenhagen on October 21, 1933: https://youtu.be/UZvqvNYJmC4

Happy 91st birthday to one of our heroes, the legendary jazz historian and NEA Jazz Master Dan Morgenstern! To listen to a 2 1/2 hour conversation between Louis Armstrong, Dan and Jack Bradley, check out our virtual exhibit on The Slivovice Interview here: https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org//a-chops-/

Last night’s photo of Louis and Dizzy Gillespie proved so popular that for #tbt, we’re sharing another Maynard Frank Wolfe photo from the same rehearsal for the 1959 Timex show, this one capturing a more candid, relaxing vibe. Giants!

50 years ago today, Louis Armstrong appeared as a guest on "The Flip Wilson Show"--watch his segments here!

Can’t let the day pass without mentioning it’s the birthday of another trumpet giantand Corona, Queens neighborDizzy Gillespie! Here they are in 1959, rehearsing for this immortal televised moment: https://youtu.be/GEh-6Hp-ZXY

Armstrong Now! presents "Letters", an original composition by Alita Moses accompanied by Michael Mayo, Negah Santos, and Vuyo Sotashe. Inspired by the abundance of fan mail found in the Armstrong Archives, we composed a four-piece suite for three voices and percussion. This libretto consists of words to and from Louis and his wife, Lucille. Our collective goal was to convey the joy Louis brought to the world and the love the world showed him in return. - Alita Moses

In Part 2 of our look at Louis Armstrong and Comedy on our "That's My Home" site, we examine Armstrong's use of comedy on records and in live performances between 1922 and 1933, utilizing scrapbook pages, photographs, taped conversations and recordings to provide incredible snapshots of Armstrong's stage work in Chicago, his friendship will Slim Thompson, the story behind "Laughin' Louie," his love of "The OKeh Laughing Record" and much, much more! https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org//louis-ar/

Social media in action! Yesterday, we posted about Louis’s 1960 tour of Africa, co-sponsored by Pepsi and the State Department. The Pepsi portion was organized by Robin Chandler Lynn, better known as women’s reproductive rights advocate Robin Chandler Duke and the wife of U. S. Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke. In 1960, she joined Armstrong and the All Stars on their tour of Africa and was a big part of Pepsi’s publicity materials. Earlier today, we were contacted on Twitter by ...her son, Biddle Duke, who was thrilled to see his mom in one of yesterday’s photos. We went though Louis’s personal collection and found even more photos of Robin Chandler Lynn, which we are sharing here, along with Pepsi publicity material and a letter Lynn wrote to Louis and the All Stars after the Pepsi portion of the tour ended. Biddle also shared a touching remembrance of his mom that he penned after her passing in 2016: https://www.easthamptonstar.com/archive/swimming-mom See more