Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong: what a wonderful world and a wonderful man
On my recent trip to New York City, I stayed in Flushing, Queens, and rode my bike to Flushing Cemetery to visit one of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong.
Louis was born in New Orleans in 1901, just as jazz was taking shape on the city’s streets. Brass bands, ragtime, blues, church music and Caribbean rhythms all mixed together there. Funerals were central to it all. Brass bands played slow dirges on the way to the cemetery, then broke into hot, joyful music on the way back. Young Louis followed these parades as a kid and later marched in them himself.
Louis at 15, with his mother and sister.
His first influence came when he was about six years old. The Karnofsky’s, a Jewish immigrant family, hired him to work on their junk wagon, fed him, and helped him buy his first horn. He wore a Star of David for the rest of his life in their honour.
Morris Karnofsky, Louis’ “other father.”
Then came King Oliver, his hero and mentor. Oliver gave Louis a cornet and lessons, and later called him to Chicago, where his life and career would change forever. Interestingly, opera was also a big influence. Louis loved Caruso and other opera singers on record, and their soaring lines shaped his trumpet style.
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, 1923, Louis kneeling on slide trumpet.
His big break came in 1929, when he sang “Ain’t Misbehavin'” in the Broadway revue Hot Chocolates. White audiences discovered him, and he went from bandleader to pop star. Through the 1930s and ’40s he appeared in Hollywood films, including Pennies from Heaven with Bing Crosby. In 1947 he formed the All Stars, a small band he led for the rest of his career.
In 1964, “Hello, Dolly!” knocked the Beatles off the #1 spot. At 62, he became the oldest artist ever to top the U.S. charts at that time. Three years later came “What a Wonderful World.” It was a #1 hit in Britain, but it took the film Good Morning, Vietnam in 1988 to make it a hit in America. Today it’s his signature song.
Louis buried to the left of the monument and Lucille to the right.
To millions he was “Satchmo,” short for “Satchelmouth,” a joke about his wide grin. To his friends, he was “Pops.”
Those arriving at Satchmo’s visitation, “Mama Lucy” his only full sibling and his former wife, Lil Harden and his wife at the time of his death, Lucille Armstrong (nee Wilson).
Louis Armstrong died in his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his modest home in Corona, Queens, less than 5 km from his final resting place in Flushing Cemetery. He was 69.
Louis Armstrong’s funeral was at Corona Congregational Church in Queens, near his home. Ella Fitzgerald attended the funeral but was too upset to sing a solo, so Peggy Lee stepped in. 500 invited guests were in attendance including, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie,Guy Lombardo,Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and David Frost.
1901–1971
What a wonderful man.
