Written and maintained by the Louis Armstrong Fellows.
Note to readers: This blog post is a continuation of one uploaded on August 13, 2021 -- https://louisarmstrongfellowsblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/13/meditations-on-popular-music-exhibitions/. The two blogs posts should be read as one piece, not two stand-alone pieces. The author retains all ownership rights of the prose.The author also retains the right to use any or all the prose in future... Continue Reading →
In July I explored the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibition New York, New Music: 1980-1986. In route to the museum, I wondered whether its exhibition would be exceptional and offer something in content or layout that would depart from similar popular music exhibitions I had seen previously. The day of my visit... Continue Reading →
Here’s the update: I, along with my fellow Fellow Maglyn Bertrand, have been working with the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives for eleven months now. We’ve almost made a year of what was originally only a ten-month-long fellowship. It has transformed into a catalyst of adventuring and exploring the life and career of one... Continue Reading →
On September 25, 2020, I authored my first blog post for this webpage. In that initial post, I drew attention to the sounds of Armstrong’s den, his personal archive, and the reel-to-reel tape recordings he made in that room. I could not have predicted that my interest in exploring Armstrong’s interactions with audio technology and... Continue Reading →
In 1958 an article about Louis Armstrong entitled “He Tapes It All!” appeared in an issue of Hi-Fi at Home, an American magazine publication “targeted at the growing audience for high fidelity home systems.”[1] Unlike other 1950s print media articles written about Armstrong, which portrayed him as a cultural ambassador, icon, and entertainer, “He Tapes... Continue Reading →
Telling Louis Armstrong’s life story featuring the voices of women he encountered during his journey was a goal that Fellow Maglyn Bertrand and I were assigned during the Fall. I believe creating a tour that highlights women’s perspectives has inspired Maglyn and me to draw on and reflect on our own experiences as women. By... Continue Reading →
In 1957, Armstrong and the All Stars went on a goodwill tour of several South American countries including Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela. After landing at Buenos Aires’ airport, a welcome party consisting of some 5,000 ecstatic Argentines, greeted Armstrong and the All Stars on the tarmac. Two police escorts attempted to help Armstrong... Continue Reading →
“It’s sadly easy to reverse meaning, in fact, to tell a lie, by offering an accurate but incomplete quote,”1 said author Octavia Butler in an Essence article in 2000. After reading this article, I began to think about Louis’ life; how his collections have humanized the man from the legend the world thought they knew... Continue Reading →
I would like to think that if I had lived during Louis Armstrong’s time and had the opportunity to meet him, I would know how to act and what to say. However, based on my previous interactions with certain contemporary musicians during official and unofficial “meet and greets,” I am not certain I would be... Continue Reading →
Photograph of Louis Armstrong, Velma Middleton, and Ray Martino backstage in Italy, 1949. A professor I had during my graduate program in Italy had my cohort and I report to Piazza Santa Maria Novella for class one day. She instructed us to find the place that was engraved with the following saying: “tutti i passi... Continue Reading →
