ARMSTRONG NOW!
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Armstrong Now artist @jabuworld exploring the sounds of tap in the Armstrong bathroom ✨
It was a Fourth of July for the ages at the Louis Armstrong House Museum today as we celebrated Pops’s birthday with @evanshermanmusic ‘s roaring big band performing in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 200 people. Red beans and rice and birthday cake was served, the weather was perfect, and folks were smiling nonstop.
Perhaps the highlight of a memorable set is when the band tore into Chappie Willet’s arrangement of “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” as recorded by Louis for Decca in January 1938. That’s the great Alphonso Horne doing the heavy trumpet lifting but check out the full personnel below—what a band!
Evan Sherman – drums
Alphonso Horne – trumpet
James Zollar – trumpet
Summer Camargo – trumpet
Noah Halpern – trumpet
Robert Edwards – trombone
Frank Lacy– trombone, vocals
Peter Lin – trombone
Mark Gross – alto sax & clarinet
Andrew Gould – alto sax & clarinet
Abdias Armenteros – tenor sax & clarinet
Ruben Fox – tenor sax & soprano sax
Josh Lee – baritone sax & clarinet
Marty Jaffe - bass
We’ll be back with more events in the Garden later this summer so watch this space for details. Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day—Happy Birthday, Pops!
#louisarmstrong #july4 #fourthofjuly #july4th #evanshermanbigband #evansherman #birthday #birthdaycake #redbeansandrice #corona #queens #newyork #bigband #swing #dailypops #jazz #music #BAM #blackamericanmusic #satchmo #pops #louisarmstronghousemuseum #louisarmstronghouse #armstronghouse #wonderfulworld
It’s been quite a week at the Armstrong House—thanks to all in the Corona community who attended our @rooftopfilms film screenings and concerts in our Garden, all part of the exciting @queensrisingnyc series.
But extra special thanks to Council Member @cmfranciscomoya, who has been such a major supporter of our Museum for so many years. Council Member Moya attended Monday’s program and went on “The Brian Leher Show on WNYC the next day to talk about his love for the Armstrong House. We set his words to a photo montage from this week’s events, which also featured the wonderful students of @ps143q in attendance. Thank you, @franciscomoyany !
International Jazz Day 2022 - "Honeysuckle Rose"
We can't think of a better way to celebrate International Jazz Day than with a performance from our Armstrong Now series featuring the incredible Samara Joy, Julius Rodriguez on piano and tap dancers Alaman Diadhiou and Jabu Graybeal. Please enjoy "Honeysuckle Rose" from right here in the living room of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
Senior Fellows Post-Presentation Discussion
Join our Senior Fellows, Maglyn Bertrand and Tatjana Lightbourn, as they take questions live and discuss their final research projects and their time at the Louis Armstrong House Museum this past year.
30th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Louis Armstrong Archives!
On September 5, 1991, the Louis Armstrong Archives was dedicated with a special ceremony in Rosenthal Library on the campus of Queens College. Hosted by then-QC President Shirley Strum-Kenney, the event featured trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Faddis, Wynton Marsalis, Doc Cheatham, Jimmy Owens Nabate Isles, and Donald Byrd (the latter representing QC's Aaron Copland School of Music) and was attended by many luminaries, including Jimmy Heath, Arvell Shaw, Marty Napoleon, Phoebe Jacobs, Honi Coles, then-Armstrong House Director Julian Euell and future Armstrong House Director Michael Cogswell. Cogswell had just been hired as Archivist two months earlier to go through over 70 boxes of Louis and Lucille's's possessions to put together the first exhibit for this event.
For the 30th anniversary, we've reached into our Archives to share a 17-minute video compiled by Queens College of coverage of the Dedication! The first 10 minutes is footage from the ceremony, climaxed by a full performance of "St. Louis Blues" featuring many of the trumpeters in the house. The rest of the video compiles TV news coversage of the Dedication, featuring even more interviews and glimpses from a memorable day.
Today, our Archive--the world's largest Archives for any single jazz musician--has been completely digitized thanks to a $2.7 million grant from Fund II Foundation and is completely searchable online at https://collections.louisarmstronghouse.org/
And don't miss the curated virtual exhibits from our Archives on our "That's My Home" site here: https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org/
60 years ago today, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars performed at the Bronx amusement park, Freedomland. Jack Bradley was there was his camera and the park’s sound man, Peter Denis, recorded Louis’s set. Included on the tape, which was donated to our Archives by Denis’s son, was the last surviving Armstrong version of “West End Blues.” Here’s the 60-year-old trumpeter knocking out the cadenza one last time, slower and more dramatically than ever before. To hear the whole performance and see dozens of more Bradley photos from Freedomland, check out https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org/2021/05/11/the-greatest-photo-taker-remembering-jack-bradley-part-5-freedomland-1961/
Celebrate the last days of summer with us! We’re having a global dance party that features one song only: La Vie En Rose. Dance, move, sway to Louis Armstrong’s La Vie En Rose for 10 seconds, one minute, the whole song. Involve your family, your partner, your friends or go solo. The world is your backdrop. We’ll share back out some of your videos and stories. #louislavieenrose
Happy 95th birthday, Tony Bennett! Here is audio of Louis discussing the painting Tony gave Louis in London in 1970, which still hangs proudly in the den of the Louis Armstrong House Museum to this day.
Louis Armstrong House Museum Block Party!
A taste of our Block Party yesterday, featuring the joyous sounds of Calvin Johnson’s Native Son getting everyone in the Garden up to dance to “When the Saints Go Marching”! Big thanks to the Louis Armstrong Foundation for sponsoring the event and to all the wonderful folks who made it such a special day!
¡Estén atentos a la proyección de la visita en Español a la casa de Louis en agosto!
Join our very own Adriana Filstrup and Latin Grammy Winner Linda Briceño for a tour through the Louis Armstrong House Museum in spanish this August!
POPS IS TOPS TEASER
Pops is Tops!!!! Join us this Tuesday, June 8th at 1pm for a musical journey through the Louis Armstrong House Museum. The film features an incredible band, and an in-depth look at the home and legacy of the man himself. Spread the word!!!
#whatawonderfulworld #LouisArmstrong #coronaqueens #jazz #bam #alphonsohorne #alitamoses #marielbildsten #dennislichtman #mathispicard #russellhall #jakegoldbas #steinway #jazzeducation #fieldtrip
Prince Philip passed away today at the age of 99. In March 1966, Louis Armstrong was one of a star-studded lineup who performed at a Command Performance for the Prince in Los Angeles. Louis was given a scrapbook commemorating the event. Four years later, Louis and Tony Bennett were invited to Buckingham Palace for dinner with the Prince and the rest of the Royal Family. What happened there became the stuff of legend, especially as told by Tony Bennett. We put together a video with audio of Bennett telling the story about this 1970 dinner, set to some of the images from the 1966 scrapbook, capped by video of Louis on TV telling the story in his own fashion.
We recently hit 75,000 total followers on our social media platforms and wanted to celebrate with something special. 50 years ago today, Louis appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and performed “Pretty Little Missy.” Here are the last surviving trumpet sounds we have before Armstrong passed away in July. There’s no surviving video or photos from the 1971 appearance so we set the audio to Jack Bradley photos taken at “The Tonight Show” in 1968. We will have a full Virtual Exhibit with complete audio of Armstrong’s segment later today!
“She Just Sends Me All Over”: Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong House Museum Presents: “She Just Sends Me All Over”: Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong
The Real Ambassadors in Concert - Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of This Classic Album
Armstrong Now! Episode 4 - Letters
Catherine Russell and Ricky Riccardi on The Louis Armstrong Holiday Experience - December 18
Armstrong Now! Episode 2 - "Welcome Home, Louis" Live Conversation