Louis Armstrong - not such a simple view

[Dave2002]

This article from the Guardian about a new book by Ricky Riccardi suggests that appraising Armstrong presents difficulties - https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...ted-by-so-many

Did he sell out to commercialism, and does it matter if he did? Did he cross some sort of cultural divide? Perhaps more than one!

[Joseph K]

Bob O’Meally, the head of jazz studies at Columbia University in New York, remains divided. While lauding Armstrong as “one of the greatest people of the 20th century”, he was “offended by his presentations … At the time of the rise of Malcolm X, the authority of Martin Luther King, examples in the popular media like Muhammad Ali and others, there was Armstrong – a kind of throwback from another era, with this borderline minstrelsy role that he played. I cringed as a black American.”

From Miles Davis's perspective (and I am paraphrasing this from memory) he said you couldn't play anything on trumpet that didn't come from Louis Armstrong.

What the article doesn't mention is the aspect of Armstrong's technique which in later life prevented him from the kind of playing he does on Hot Fives & Sevens - again this is just from memory - but something about the way he held the trumpet to his lips wasn't wholly correct. So later on, he might have had do more commercial things like singing etc. but this is all half-remembered speculation on my behalf.

Thanks for bringing the article to our attention...

[Ian Thumwood]

When I first encountered the big band records made by Louis Armstrong in the 30s and 40's, it was hard for me to understand why his reputation so was tarnished during this period. Tracks like this still feature some imperious trumpet playing....

It is also fair to say that some of the soloists in the band such as trombonist JC Higginbotham were pretty sensational.

I am saddened by articles which denigrate Armstrong's contribution to jazz. If you look at the body of music he produced between 1923-30, it is hardly worth making a fuss about the later efforts because this music is so great. If he had recorded nothing else, his place on the Mount Olympus is jazz is assured. There are some pretty dire records made by Armstrong from this point onwards which may reflect the management advice of Joe Glaser or simply the fact that Armstrong had a wider-ranging taste in all music including popular music well beyond the remit of jazz. I think that the big band has always had an uneven reputation albeit there is a tendency to over-look was pretty terrific performances which can still be found in this part of his discography.

I have never really been much of a fan of the All Stars but the initial line up of 1947 was still capable of producing the high standard of jazz you would expect with the likes of Teagarden and Hines in the line up. Unfortunately, it eventually morphed in to something quite different by the 1960s but not before leaving behind some excellent records such as the WC Handy and Fats Waller tributes. In the band's last years, it had become a "pop act" where the jazz element had been completely watered down but I think the same criticism applies to Miles Davis even if he was never castigated for appearing in films and TV such as "Scrooged" and "Miami Vice." At the same time as performing with the All Stars, Armstrong was also making albums with Ella Fitzgerald which are pretty timeless yet no one ever accuses Ella of a commercial sell-out even though I would argue that she perfected the blending of jazz and pop.

The meddling of Joe Glaser who did not want to see Armstrong's artistic persona compromised was, I think, a driving force in why people are still having this discussion in 2020. It would have been interesting to speculate who more interesting Armstrong's music might have been with more sympathetic management. I always think that is was a tragedy that Glaser prevented the proposed collaboration with Gil Evans. The arranger had always described himself as "the world's biggest Louis Armstrong fan" and Armstrong was very keen to work with him having been hugely impressed by his work with Miles Davis. You can only imagine how good this album would have been had it been made and the effect it would have had on Armstrong's reputation. I do not feel that the collaboration with Duke Ellington was as bad as some believed even if it did not live up to expectations with Armstrong coasting. I have always felt that a combined Armstrong / Evans album had the potential to be very special indeed.