29/06/2024
Because so much, drawn from different times and settings over his life course, has been written about him, myths, misinformation, and error about the Great Louis Armstrong will inevitably persist.
The iconic Armstrong phenomenon of creativity and humanity did not merely drive jazz musicmaking and its culture and history for well over half a century, but had its effects in race relations, protest ["Public Melody No. 1"], International relations [Ambassador Satch] and American culture. Not everyone saw him in the same light. So it's no great surprise that when a version of the history of Louis and the Karnovsky family was recently posted by Tim Harding it was immediately critiqued vigorously by Barry Wratten and Robert Scurry and others. The reality is that a full historical understanding of Louis and his influence is still emerging.
I recently dealt conclusively with a longstanding myth about Armstrong's first cornet - the cornet that actually was not a cornet at all, but a trumpet -
Louis Armstrong’s first cornet was not a cornet My photograph taken over a decade ago of the instrument on display at the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans, said to be Louis Armstrong’s first cornet given to him at the age of 12 when he was an inmate of the New Orleans Coloured Waifs Home My photo of...
