By Jesse Tampio
He is the greatest trumpeter in the history of jazz. He practically invented the jazz solo and revolutionized jazz singing. He taught the world to swing. He performed around the globe for decades, all, as he put it, "in the cause of happiness." He is one of the most beloved and influential artists and entertainers of the 20th century. Who is this figure of mythic proportions? It's Louis Daniel Armstrong, of course, and these are only some of the reasons why Jazz at Lincoln Center (J@LC) is devoting many of the productions throughout its 10th anniversary 2000-01season to his music and legacy.
A LIFE IN JAZZ
Armstrong ("Satchmo" or "Pops" as he affectionately came to be known), started his rise to the apex of artistic achievement in rather low surroundings, growing up poor but well-loved in a tough New Orleans neighborhood. Although he claimed throughout his life that he was born July 4, 1900, he was actually born August 4, 1901 (according to documents discovered in 1988 by scholar Tad Jones). Raised by his paternal grandmother Josephine and his mother Mayann, Armstrong worked odd jobs around the city to support his family, which brought him in close contact with the vibrant music being born in the Crescent City. When his long-time employers, the Karnofsky family, helped him buy his first cornet, and when he later performed in the band at the Colored Waif's Home for Boys, those around him quickly recognized his penchant for music.
Performing in pick-up bands and parades throughout the city, young Louis caught the attention of established musicians, most notably the reigning New Orleans cornet monarch Joe "King" Oliver, who became his mentor. After playing with trombonist Kid Ory's estimable band and spending two years on riverboat cruises, Armstrong heeded Oliver's call up to Chicago in 1922 -- an event that eventually propelled him from local acclaim to national and international fame.
Playing with his mentor at Chicago's Lincoln Gardens Café, Armstrong's musical prowess and ingenuity sent waves through this larger metropolis and over to the East Coast. He moved to New York City in 1924 to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, and although fellow musicians initially mocked him for his country ways, his musical influence on them was profound, especially after he returned to Chicago to cut his first recordings as a leader with his Hot Five (and later Hot Seven). This series of over 60 performances transformed jazz through its inventiveness, joy, and above all, unbridled swing.
In 1929, his solo on "Ain't Misbehavin'" in the Broadway revue Hot Chocolates further increased his renown among the popular audience. Soon after, he formed a big band and began touring across the country and eventually the globe. He started appearing in films and radio programs and recording numerous popular songs. With his astounding solos -- usually including numerous stratospheric notes -- his mile-wide grin and ebullient personality, and his total devotion to music-making, he became an international symbol of joy and American optimism. In 1947, he formed his All-Stars, a smaller ensemble with which he traveled and performed until right before his death on July 6, 1971.
The revolutionary quality of Armstrong's music can be difficult for our modern ears to appreciate, precisely because his influence is so thoroughly engrained in the idiom. He extended the device of short breaks in New Orleans jazz to create the cohesive solo - now considered one of the defining elements of jazz.
He established the primacy of the blues tonality, and expanded the possibilities of harmonic improvisation. As a trumpeter, his fluency and originality set him ahead of his time. As Miles Davis said, "you can't play anything on the horn that Louis hasn't already playedÂ…even modern." Armstrong's influence also extends beyond the trumpet, as he inspired generations as a singer, an entertainer, an ambassador, and a human being. Dizzy Gillespie said "Louis is jazz in person;" Bing Crosby went even further, hailing him as "the beginning and the end of music in America."
Accordingly, Jazz at Lincoln Center is taking a multi-faceted approach in conveying the magnitude of his legacy. At the February 2000 announcement of the 100 Years of Armstrong celebration, J@LC Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis outlined three aspects of Armstrong's genius that the organization would celebrate through dozens of concerts and educational events around the world. One is The Trumpeter, as Armstrong revolutionized the technical and stylistic possibilities of the trumpet and of the jazz solo itself. The second is The Standard Bearer, as he inspired the tradition of turning popular songs into jazz standards. The third is The Jazz Ambassador, as Pops spent most of his life spreading the joy of music all around the world.
CONCERTS
J@LC officially kicked off its celebration on July 4, 2000 -- exactly 100 years after the date Pops claimed as his with Wynton Marsalis at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, which was birthday -- with a free concert by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) broadcast nationwide by National Public Radio. The next major Armstrong concert was "Swing That Music -- The Fifth Annual J@LC Awards Gala and Benefit Concert."
In December 2000, J@LC will "Spend the Season with Satchmo," as all of its concerts and educational events -- including lectures and a Jazz For Young PeopleSM program -- will revolve around his music. The month's centerpiece will be a series of concerts featuring the LCJO with Wynton Marsalis and guest New Orleans musicians Don Vappie, Bob Wilber, and Lucien Barbarin performing Armstrong originals, songs with which he was closely associated, and other classic New Orleans tunes. The concert will be performed on December 7 and 9 in Alice Tully Hall, December 11 at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, and December 13 in a special presentation of Live From Lincoln Center, telecast on PBS stations nationwide. Also in this TV program, three teenage trumpeters will perform with the LCJO, illustrating that the Armstrong legacy continues to influence young musicians into the 21st century. And on December 8, J@LC will kick off its series of dance parties in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center with an Armstrong-inspired program.
On March 22 and 24, 2001, a concert entitled "Pops -- The Ambassador of Swing," will feature the LCJO performing songs with which the entertainer delighted crowds worldwide on his numerous tours. The LCJO will also host guest trumpeters hailing from some of the countries that have felt the indelible imprint of Armstrong's legacy.
J@LC is also making plans for other 100 Years of Armstrong concerts before the actual 100th birthday of Satchmo -- August 4, 2001.
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
Since its programming is firmly rooted in its educational vision, J@LC is producing numerous events to illuminate Armstrong's artistic achievements for both children and adults.
Continuing its highly successful collaboration with The Juilliard School, J@LC is producing The Armstrong Lecture Series in the 2000-01 season -- a series of three free lectures, held in Morse Hall at The Juilliard School. The series started on October 23 with scholar Tad Jones discussing the musical impact New Orleans had on Louis. On December 11, musician/educator Loren Schoenberg will discuss Armstrong's unparalleled prowess as a trumpeter, and on March 26, longtime Armstrong bassist Arvell Shaw will share memories of their international adventures in a discussion with radio personality and jazz historian Phil Schaap.
On November 29, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, recognized as one of the most blazing heirs to Satchmo's legacy, led a Jazz on Film devoted to Armstrong. Honoring the profound appeal Armstrong still holds for children, J@LC will produce Jazz for Young People:SM "Who is Louis Armstrong?" on December 15 (for school groups at the Apollo Theater) and December 16 in Alice Tully Hall. And on May 15, scholar Dan Morgenstern will moderate a very special Jazz Talk, produced in collaboration with the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, which will reunite Armstrong band alumni Milt Hinton, Jack Lesberg, Marty Napoleon, and Arvell Shaw to discuss their illustrious former bandleader.
Also of special note is the second installment of an unprecedented music publishing endeavor, the Essential Jazz Editions, through which J@LC, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and the Library of Congress's Music Division, will publish ten sets (one set of five pieces per year) of newly-transcribed compositions and arrangements of original recordings representing the breadth of the jazz canon. The 2000 set, focusing on the music of Louis Armstrong, will give students, teachers, and musicians the opportunity to perform and study several compositions that were highlights of his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings: "Cornet Chop Suey," "Hotter Than That," "West End Blues," "Tight Like This," and "Mahogany Hall Stomp."
TOURING
From the late 1940s through the end of his life, Louis Armstrong traveled worldwide performing with his All Stars. Thanks to these tours and his numerous television and radio broadcasts, he became one of the world's most famous and beloved entertainers. The U.S. State Department sponsored him on several international tours in the 1950s and 60s, which earned him the title "Ambassador Satch." Wherever he went, his music brought joy to all who heard it, and he was treated as a celebrity who was closely connected to his audience. Once, during a tour in West Africa, he was greeted by a crowd of more than one hundred thousand.
In this spirit, J@LC will tour its own world-renowned ensemble, the LCJO, across the globe during the 100 Years of Armstrong celebration. Throughout seven months of touring during the season, the LCJO will perform Satchmo's music across the U.S., in Germany, Italy, England, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Argentina, and elsewhere. All over the world, Armstrong's music is recognized and treasured. During the celebration announcement, Mr. Marsalis recalled heartening experiences while touring with the LCJO: hearing Pops's music in an airport in Europe, and seeing a group of road workers in Brazil call out Armstrong's name at the very sound of jazz.
There is a near consensus among musicians, historians, critics, and listeners that Louis Armstrong was the single most important artist in the history of jazz -- not only because his artistic achievements profoundly shaped the development of the music, but also because he embodied the combination of artistry and entertainment, of integrity and joy, and of sophistication and soul that jazz has come to represent.
In his 1936 autobiography Swing That Music, Armstrong wrote that he considered jazz "a music that is truly American, that will surely take its place, in time, alongside of the great and permanent music of other countries." In many ways, the establishment of a jazz organization at Lincoln Center in 1991 was a fulfillment of that vision, so it is appropriate that J@LC celebrates the music and achievements of the artist who, more than anyone else, made jazz what it is today.
Originally appeared in The Swing Sheet Fall/Winter 2000 Issue
Courtesy of Jazz at Lincoln Center
